


How to Care for Six Super-Powered Kids

by EmthelRackem



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Emotions, Fluff, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Human Experimentation, M/M, Minor Violence, Ok I lied, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Steve adopts them all, Violence, lots of them - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2019-10-02 20:50:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 22,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17270903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmthelRackem/pseuds/EmthelRackem
Summary: Steve has no idea how to take care of himself, let alone these six kids that showed up at his door. They're all like him though, so really, how could he turn them away?The government is after them, tracking them down, wanting to take them all back, but Steve's been protecting them. All of them.Too bad the police had to get involved.





	1. Chapter 1

Steve couldn’t remember a lot of what happened at the institute. There were a lot of white coats, white walls, white, white, white. Everywhere. 

There was also a lot of red. His blood splashed on the experiment tables or dripping from his arms as the others attacked him.

He wasn’t sure why they did. People the white coats brought in were usually nice, usually held him and wanted to be held. Even the dogs, and the cats, and the bears. Some of them didn’t though, some of them only wanted to hurt him. He still didn’t know why.

All he knew was that he was free now. Living in a little house away from the world, hiding away from the people in white. He’d been free for years now, and from what he could gather, was no longer a child. He got a job, he was supporting himself, and he was free now.

At least, for a while.

—

Steve wasn’t quite surprised to hear someone to knock on his door. His neighbour was far away but liked to drop by and make sure Steve was okay. It was late though, so Steve was a bit confused.

However, upon opening the door, Steve found not his lovely neighbour, but a fairly dirty child. 

“Who are you?” The kid asked brown hair on his head in curls tilting as he inclined his head.

“Who’re you?” Steve replied. 

Turned out the kid was named Dustin. He was a sweet thing, exploring Steve’s house with childlike wonder. Steve fed him, bathed him, and washed his clothes. While Dustin sat on the couch with a blanket around his shoulders Steve finally summoned the courage to ask how he had found him, worried that the white coats were coming back. Worried that they had found him again.

“I don’t know,” Dustin replied, grabbing another cookie from the plate in front of him. 

“You don’t know?” Steve said, incredulous, “I’m in the middle of nowhere!”

“I don’t know!” Dustin repeated, “I just felt…pulled here, ya know?”

“Not quite,” Steve said, though his mind was filled with memories of mazes, where people found him, no matter how much he ran.

“I just felt better the closer I got. It feels…” Dustin frowned, glancing up at Steve and then back to the food, “safe here.”

Before Steve could react the table was flipped and Dustin was rushing at him, pushing him against the wall and lifting him a few feet off the ground.

“What are you doing?” Dustin demanded, looking more scared than a child able to lift up a man should feel. “How are you doing this?”

“What do you mean?” Steve asked right back, looking appropriately terrified.

“Is it in the food? Some sort of gas?” Dustin asked, ignoring Steve’s question. When Steve didn’t reply (too confused and scared too), Dustin threw him to the ground and rushed out. 

Steve lay on the floor for a second and then cursed.

First contact with a small child and he had ruined it.

—

Dustin came back a few hours later, refusing to enter the house until Steve came out and promised that he wasn’t doing anything that could affect Dustin this way. (Or at least, not consciously.)

Another round of questioning started, in which Steve learnt that Dustin grew up where he did and that Dustin was prone to throwing things when he was upset.

Oh, also that Dustin had super strength of some sort.

“It drains me,” Dustin explained, “They did all sorts of tests to see how far I could go without draining completely, but it’s still hard to keep my energy up all the time.”

“You need more to eat then?” Steve asked, already thinking over his current income and expenses.

“I don’t know if I need to eat more than normal, I just eat as much as I do.” Dustin stared at Steve and then tilted his head. “Wait, what can you do?”

“Huh?” Steve asked mind jolted back to the present.

“Well, as far as I know, everyone could do something. I got super strength, one of the girls has got fire, another can turn invisible or something, what can you do?”

“I don’t know,” Steve admitted, leaning forward and putting his head on his hand, “they never told me, and it's not super obvious, whatever it is.”

“Okay, keep your secrets,” Dustin said and flashed Steve a smile. 

Steve knew then that he wouldn’t let this kid go back to the institute. He would keep him safe.

—

Keeping Dustin safe was not as easy as Steve had thought. For a kid that had grown up in a scary institution, he was worryingly okay with showing off and running the risk of being found out. 

Dustin ripped a tree from the ground when Steve requested firewood. (This was followed by a long nap that terrified Steve more than the sight of Dustin carrying a huge tree. Afterwards, Dustin had explained that he was just drained and needed to recharge. That hadn’t quite reassured Steve as it was meant to.) Dustin insisted on carrying all the groceries in, in one go. Many people commented on how strong Dustin was and Steve almost had a heart attack each and every time.

Steve kept track of what Dustin was carrying, how much it weighed (approximately, of course) and when. He half hated doing it, as it reminded him of the scientists, but he also loved it as it reassured him when Dustin was sleeping after draining. It reassured him that Dustin had done this before, and would be okay. 

One day, when Dustin was sleeping and Steve had just put in an entry, he heard someone knock on the door. It couldn’t be his neighbour as she was away for the month and had asked him to look after her garden, so it must be someone else.

When Steve opened the door he was quite shocked to find another bedraggled kid with brown hair. Before Steve could ask who he was, and why he was showing up at his door, the kid ran inside (or Steve assumed he did, the kid was fast,) and opened the pantry. The bang from the pantry door hitting the wall woke Dustin, who glanced around before his eyes landed on the other kid.

“Hey!” Steve yelled out at the same time as Dustin rolled off the couch. Steve ran toward the pantry, towards the kid, and Dustin stood up.

“What are you doing?” Steve asked, stopping about a metre from the kid. He looked terrified. The kid’s head turned to Dustin as he rounded the corner into the kitchen and his eyes widened.

“Mike?” Dustin asked and Mike ran over to hug him. (And wow was Steve getting old or was this kid ridiculously fast?) Steve stepped out of the kitchen and let them hug it out, grabbing a few cookies and blankets, and readying the washing machine. 

—

Mike was a bit easier to handle considering he and Dustin knew each other. Steve learnt that after he had run off, the institute let kids of the same age hang out for a small portion of the week. He also learnt that Mike had super speed and that he also felt drained as Dustin did. 

Steve resigned himself to watching over two small superpowered kids around the same time Mike ran through the house and accidentally tripped over nothing. 

Steve shopped at cheaper places and made Mike join in with the chores. Mike volunteered to water the neighbour’s plants since it would take him much less time than it would Steve. Steve did splurge and buy another notebook, to keep track of Mike and his speedy powers. He had noticed that Dustin could lift more for longer now, but he didn’t want to raise false hope that one day he wouldn’t feel drained at all. 

The kids were also helping to increase Steve’s fitness. Mike would challenge Steve to races, and really, how could Steve say no? Although Steve would lose each and every time, he still did the whole course at his top speed. He was slowly getting faster, but he doubted he would ever be as fast as Mike. No one was.

His neighbour was appropriately surprised that Steve had managed to get himself another child in the month she was gone but acted as a motherly figure nonetheless. Steve was thankful that she was able to give him more food, and that she didn’t mention their lives before Steve at all. Although Dustin and Mike were fairly even-tempered he didn’t want to explain to Mrs Butcher why Dustin could lift up the couch, or why Mike could run so fast after she had simply mentioned their pasts. 

Steve taught the two as much as he could, fitting it in between work and looking after them. The institute taught them to read, and how to do basic math, so Steve started with history, before moving onto geography. He glossed over science, content to leave it for a later date. 

All in all, Steve was happy. He was providing for himself and two kids. He could do this.

—

At least, Steve could do this when there were only two kids. A month after Mike came a boy who had excellent aim and could conjure small spheres from nothing. Steve was still bearing the bruises from where Lucas (that was his name Steve was told by Mike and Dustin) had pelted him with his spheres when another kid showed up.

Steve wasn’t aware Will was in his house for an embarrassingly long time. The three boys knew and only shared the information when Will wanted them too. While Steve was glad that they could keep secrets, he was unnerved that someone had been sneaking around for a while and he didn’t know. Will could enter a different dimension, (or at least that’s how he described it) but the dimension was exactly like Steve’s and Will could move around in it. He described it as being invisible, but also he couldn’t be felt while in the dimension. It wasn’t teleportation but it wasn’t being invisible either. It hurt Steve’s head when he thought about it too much.

Will also mentioned that while in his dimension, he could enter people’s minds. He couldn’t influence them, but he could communicate with other people this way. He could also read surface emotion. That freaked Steve out more than anything else that had concerned Will. 

Eleven, or El, had the most dramatic entrance of all of them. She flung the door open with her mind, and Steve suspected that she would’ve continued on a path of destruction if she hadn’t seen the other kids. According to Mike, El could move things with her mind. According to Dustin, it was the best power ever. According to Steve, someone would have to do extra chores to pay back him for the broken door. Luckily, with special brain powers, El was a huge help with some of the bigger tasks. She screwed all the screws at once while Dustin held the door in place. Steve couldn’t stay mad at her, he couldn’t stay mad at any of them.

The last kid was a redhead named Max. She hadn’t known any of the kids for as long as the others had and therefore was a bit more skittish and secretive. Steve only learnt what she could do when she set fire to the coffee-table in a fit of rage. (That poor table, Steve thought as he watched it burn.) El and Mike reacted quickly enough to save the rest of the house but the table was destroyed. Max had apologised, of course, and helped the kids make a brand new one. Steve displayed it proudly and told his neighbour all about it when she came over again. Of course, she asked after the old one which prompted a lot of awkward stammering before Dustin shouted out that they had stained it.

Mrs Butch launched into an explanation of how bad that was, and how they couldn’t throw out perfectly good tables because of a little stain, and think of the environment Steven how could you?

All the kids nodded and offered affirmatives when it was needed, and Steve shot them all dirty looks. 

Once Mrs Butch was gone Steve sulked for the rest of the day, Dustin eventually apologising for getting Steve in trouble. To be honest, Steve didn’t care that much and forgave him easily.

Although, he splurged when they went shopping later in the week, buying himself some new notebooks to track all the kids' progress.

He would look after all of them, they were his responsibility now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopper's hit a bit of a bump in the metaphorical road. Unfortunately someone has been hit on the literal road and Hopper has to fix that.

Hopper was not having fun. He rarely was, but right now he really, really wasn’t having fun. Six missing child reports had been put up in the last six months, and all had been pulled down after a few days. When Hopper traced the children and tried to find out where they had gone he just…couldn't. There were no parents, there were no addresses. No policeman had found them, no one had helped them home. 

The closest he had gotten was Maxine, who was related to a Neil Hargrove. That led to a dead end too as all the Hargrove’s had been missing for years, so long that they had been presumed dead. Finding that out had lead to a night of heavy drinking in which Hopper wondered if the missing posters had been put up from beyond the grave.

It was also odd that all of their photos in the missing posters were eerily similar. Not in the sense that the kids looked the same, but the backgrounds were similar, the angle was almost identical. There were less like family photos and more like mugshots.

Hopper couldn’t help but feel completely useless. Six kids had gone missing, the missing person reports taken down and not a single one was actually found. The other cops didn’t seem to care, they assumed it was a technical test, or that since the reports were taken down some other department found them.

Hopper looked into that too but nothing came up from there either. No tests were done on the servers, and no department had found them. No one was questioning it and it seemed like Hopper was the only one that cared.

He swept all of the files into a drawer and got up, ready to go home and drink himself into oblivion.

Maybe being drunk would give him some answers today.

—

Hopper was sitting at his desk, (once again staring at the missing person reports of the kids) when he was called out of office. Not that he wasn’t usually called out, it was just in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, and so Hopper thought he might be able to sit down for a while.

Well, when had the universe ever had Hopper’s feelings in mind when doing things.

(Memories of a hospital, of a wife, of a child, were quickly buried as Hopper left the office)

It was a simple hit and run, the victim in the hospital, but the one thing that got him called out was the lack of witnesses. The victim was in a coma, and not looking too good, so Hopper would have to do some good old detective work. He would have to find security tapes, find the car and find the culprit. Simple really.

He didn’t know why he was assigned to this case. Hopper suspected it was because all of the other cops couldn’t be bothered, or that the secretary, Florence, was worried that he was spending so much time in the office and not getting out. Whatever the reason, Hopper was annoyed that he had to go out and do it himself.

Hopper tracked down the spot where the accident happened, in the middle of a long stretch of road, and looked around for some cameras.

There were no cameras. Not even speed cameras. Nothing he could use. Hopper kicked the road in frustration. First, he couldn’t save kids, now he couldn’t even solve a simple hit and run.

What had happened to him?

He went back to his office, saddened that he hadn’t been able to help at least one person he wanted to. He stomped inside and instructed the secretary to put out an ad requesting information. He couldn’t be bothered searching for any more evidence. He swept every file on his desk into his bag and then walked out again, notifying Florence that he wasn’t feeling well. She cooed at him and tried to offer condolences but he was already out the door.

—-

Hopper was contemplating staying at home the next day as well and drinking his huge hangover away, but he was informed that someone had shown up to the police-office in response to the ad. Hopper grumbled as he got dressed and made himself semi-presentable. He grumbled more as he drove to the police station and grumbled still as he entered the interrogation room.

He stopped grumbling when he saw who exactly had responded to the ad. A teen, or at least a very young adult, clutched a small backpack to his chest. He wore a blue jacket and his hair was styled on his head, obviously, a trend that the teen had picked up. Hopper took one look at him, sitting in the interrogation room, brown eyes widened in fear, and stomped right back out.

“Why the hell is my witness in the interrogation room?” He demanded and Florence jumped.

“Your witness? Steve?” Florence asked and Hopper almost growled, too tired and worked up to think properly.

“The one in the interrogation room! For the hit and run!” 

Florence looked at him, “His name is Steve, and he is in there because he was dodgy,” she said, “just told us his name and that he wanted to answer the ad and that was it. When Powell asked him anything else he clamped up and when we told him you’d be late he almost took off, told us he had ‘been here too long already’. Whatever that means.” 

Hopper turned on his heel and strode away, not even looking back at Florence as he made his way back into the interrogation room. The boy, Steve, was still sitting in his seat, still looking terrified.

“My name is Chief Hopper, I’m in charge of the case you responded to, could you please state your name and give me a statement,” He rattled off and Steve seemed to jerk to life.

“My name is Steve, I called in the 911?” He said, still clutching at the backpack.

“Ah, yes, the 911 caller,” Hopper said, mind racing, he hadn’t even bothered to look into who called the victim in, considering they couldn’t do it themselves. “Could you run through the events for me please?”

“Yeah, uh,” Steve hesitated, twisting the fabric of the bag in his hands, “I was driving home, I had groceries in the back, and I saw this guy standing at the edge of the road, and as I drove towards him another car came zooming from the other direction. The other car swerved a bit, and just,” Steve looked away and off to the side, “hit him.”

“Did you notice anything about the car?” Hopper asked, jotting down the information in his notepad.

“It was, uh, red. Kind of old.” Steve screwed his eyes shut, then opened them a bit, “the driver was swerving a lot. They might have been drunk or something.”

“Drunk driver, sounds about right,” Hopper murmured, noting down the description of the car, “did you notice any identifying features? A numberplate would be great.”

“I didn’t catch the numberplate, sorry, but the car’s wheels were larger than mine. Oh, and there were a lot of stickers on the back, super colourful,” Steve said, and his eyes darted down to his wrist, and then to Hopper’s, “can I have the time please?” He asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Hopper replied, glancing down at his watch, “its about one-ten.”

“I have to go,” Steve said, standing up, “I’ve been here too long.”

“Woah, hold on,” Hopper said, catching Steve as he tried to dash for the door and blocking the exit, “I still need to ask you a few questions.”

“Please,” Steve begged, “I have to go.”

“No, you need to stay here I just gotta ask you a few more questions,” Hopper repeated, holding Steve’s arms firmly.

“What do you want to ask?” Steve replied, almost manic in his desperation to get out the door.

“Why did you call and not stay with the victim?” Hopper asked, trying to guide Steve back into the centre of the room.

“What?”

“Why did you make the call, but not stay with the victim?” Hopper repeated, “you called 911 but then you left, why?”

“I had groceries, and I had to get home!” Steve replied, still trying to claw himself out of Hopper’s grip.

“Why did you have to get home so quickly,” Hopper demanded, “were you running?”

“No!” Steve yelled, finally stilling and looking at Hopper with wide eyes, “I’ve got kids, I have to get back to them, please.” Steve looked almost on the verge of tears and Hopper released him quickly.

This boy had kids? Hopper knew how hard it was to raise a single child (for a while at least) so for someone with much less experience to raise kids, plural? Hopper couldn’t imagine the stress, no wonder Steve wants to leave.

“Yeah, sure, I guess,” Hopper started, letting go of Steve. Before Hopper could continue, and ask for phone number or home address Steve was already out the door.

—

Steve was terrified when he called 911. He knew how to do it because of TV, but once he had rung up and requested an ambulance he realised that he couldn’t be there when the police arrived. The police were part of the government, and so was the institute. He couldn’t be recorded here as it might go back to the scientists, and they might find him.

They might find the kids.

So Steve rushed home, told the kid to unload the groceries, and tried to scrub the memory of a mangled body from his brain. He started on dinner, and let the TV play in the background. During the news there was a section about the hit and run, requesting information. Steve half debated not answering, but he was the only one there, so he did. 

He waited until the next day, told the kids he’d be back for lunch and left to go to the police station. He hadn’t wanted to stay long, only long enough to give a statement and leave, and it felt like every second he was there the risk of people finding him doubled. He was terrified. 

He didn’t want to leave the kids at home too long, so all the extra waiting made him nervous. He thought he was done after the Chief asked him about the car but apparently not. He just wanted to leave and go back to where it was safe.

When he saw the opportunity, Steve ran, he dashed out of the police-office and got into his car, driving off as fast as he could.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopper tracks down Steve. Steve does not appreciate this.

A few days later and Hopper was regretting letting Steve go so soon. They had no way to contact him, and unfortunately, three cars matched his description. All three drivers were insisting that they were home the whole day, so Hopper was going to have to find the kid.

At first, he tried asking Florence, but she said that Steve hadn’t left any details aside from his name. No one had any information on him, and Hopper didn’t want to scare the kid off by putting up a request for him. Steve wasn’t in trouble, he just needed to look at a few photographs, but Hopper had to find him.

After a few hours of driving around town, trying to see if he could find Steve, he himself almost ran over someone.

“Chief Hopper,” the lady called out, waving her arms wildly, "thank goodness!"

"Are you okay," Hopper asked. The car had stopped barely three feet from her. 

"Yes I'm fine," she waved away his concerns, "but the new shopkeeper won't give me my discount!" 

Glad for the distraction from his troubling case, Hopper followed the lady, Mrs Amy Butch, into the shop. The new shopkeeper was withholding the usual discount because it had changed. Hopper had to act as a peace negotiator while both parties almost got into a screaming match. Eventually, he managed to settle the dispute, getting a small discount that applied to Mrs Butch and almost no one else. 

"Thank you for that," Mrs Butch said as Hopper helped her load her car with the groceries, "hopefully he doesn't go back on his word, the slippery fella." She looked over at Hopper as he finished loading the groceries, and frowned, "are you okay there Chief?"

"Yeah, just," Hopper rubbed his forehead, "this case I've been working on. It's been tough."

"What's the problem?" Mrs Butch asked, closing the boot.

"I need to talk to the witness again but they didn't leave any contact details and I can't find them," Hopper explained, realising how pathetic it was once he said it out loud.

Mrs Butch seemed to consider it for a moment before she said: "who is this witness? I know pretty much everyone, I'm pretty sure I can help."

"It's official police business," Hopper protested, but Mrs Butch just scoffed.

"Just tell me and I guarantee I can help, it'd be much easier." Hopper looked at her and considered it. It would be much easier if Mrs Butch knew, and maybe Hopper could finally wrap this case up and go back to more important things.

"His name is Steve. Young-ish, I guess, brown eyes, brown hair," Hopper said, deflating.

"Oh, Steve!" Mrs Butch exclaimed, "he's my neighbour, the sweetheart." Hopper expressed his gratitude as Mrs Butch gave him Steve's address. Mrs Butch waved him off, saying that it was only right that she was helping the police. After making sure Mrs Butch was okay to get home, Hopper got in his car, glanced down at the address and set off for Steve's house. 

—

Steve was carefully watching the spot where Will has disappeared. They had decided to practice today, to see if Will could communicate with all of them at once, or connect them so they could all talk through their minds. 

Steve could feel a gentle brush against his mind, and then Dustin gasped beside him. 

“Will, you okay buddy?” Steve asked aloud, worried that he had pushed him too far, too fast. Steve felt another brush against his mind, a bit harder, before Will flickered back into existence in front of him.

“I can read you all at once, I just can’t link you up,” he said, “sorry.”

“No, no, Will its fine,” Steve exclaimed, crushing Will in a hug, before turning to grab his notebook to jot down the time, making sure to make a personal note to not push Will into doing this again for a while. He makes sure the kids aren’t crowding him and clears a space on the couch in case he needs to take a quick nap.

“I want to try again,” Will demands, still looking a bit pale, and Steve rushes over to him.

“Will you’ve been basically drained to nothing,” he says, hands hovering over him in an almost hug. He’s always worried when Will does his thing because he’s easily the most sensitive of the group and if he’s drained where Steve can’t reach him, well, Steve doesn’t even want to think about that.

“Can I at least go back and just sit there?” He asks, “I won’t do anything, promise!”

Steve worried his lip for a second, but ultimately rationalised that Will was sensible, he would know when he hit his limit and also what could Steve do to stop him? He nodded.

“Just don’t leave the house, and don’t try and communicate unless you hit trouble okay?” 

“Fine,” Will said, before vanishing from Steve’s sight. Steve contemplated yelling for him to come back, already overtaken with worry, but shook it off. He was looking after six super-powered kids, if he couldn’t handle a few scares, he wasn’t good enough.

He started working on lunch, with Dustin hanging around his legs and trying to help. El and Mike were chatting in the corner, with Lucas and Max. He didn’t mind if any of them dated, but he had told them about the dangers of going outside, the dangers of the government, of cameras. They would have to wait until they were a bit older and more unrecognisable. 

In the middle of Steve attempting to shoo Dustin away from the kitchen, Will reappeared in front of him. He looked pale.

“Are you okay,” Steve asked, reaching up to put his hand on Will’s forehead.

“Someone’s outside,” Will gasped, “I think they’re police.” Steve frowned and walked over to the window just as a police car pulled up.

“Dustin, get Will upstairs,” Steve ordered, turning around and walking towards the rest of the kids. “Upstairs now,” he ordered, “be quiet, someone’s coming.”

“Who?” Max asked.

“Police, I think,” Will answered, and Steve saw Max frown.

“Are they coming for us?”

“Sweetie, that’s what I’m going to figure out,” Steve answered, ushering them upstairs. There were locks on their rooms, they would be safe.

“Will they hurt us?” Lucas asked.

“Will they hurt you?” Dustin chimed in.

“Are they going to take us back?” Mike whispered.

“Look, I don’t know, you need to-“ Steve was cut off by some knocks on the door. He glanced over at the kids, and they all scrambled upstairs. Steve brushed off the front of his clothing and opened the front door a bit, not surprised to see the Chief outside his house.

“Hello?” Steve said, noting how Hopper was alone. If he was here for the kids, wouldn’t he have brought back up? Did they have special weapons now?

“Hi, Steve, I wanted to ask you if you could identify the car, from the accident,” Hopper said, digging into his jacket pocket to extract the photos, “can I come in?” 

“Uh,” Steve looks back into the house, trying to figure out if any of the kids are still around, “sure, I guess,” he steps back, and the Chief steps into his home. He looks around for a second and spots the loaf of bread on the kitchen counter.

“Getting ready for lunch?” He asks and Steve nods warily. While Hopper busies himself with spreading the pictures on the coffee table, Steve eyes find his notebook on Will on the couch and quickly shoves it behind a cushion.

“Do you want a drink?” Steve asks awkwardly, wishing that the Chief would just leave already.

“No thanks, I’ll be out of your hair in a second,” Hopper says, gesturing at the pictures of the three cars, “just pick out the one that ran over the victim, and I’ll be on my way.”

Steve looks over the pictures, glancing at each one quickly before pointing at the second option. 

“That one,” he says. Hopper glances at the picture himself and frowns.

“You sure,” he asks, “you didn’t look at them very long, do you want to take another look?” Steve obediently checks them all over once more before nodding rapidly.

“Yes, it has the rainbow sticker on the back,” he says, pointing out the sticker. Hopper nods and looks up at Steve’s wide eyes.

“Are you okay?” He asks, freaked out by how terrified the other looks.

“I’m fine,” Steve answers, much too quickly. Hopper glances back around the house, eyes landing on the kitchen once again and noting the pictures on the fridge.

“Where are your kids?” He asks, and Steve pales.

“Look, I’m really busy so-“

“Are they upstairs?”

“I really think you should go-“

“I’m not going to hurt them-“ Hopper takes a step towards the stairs and Steve grabs his arm.

“Don’t!” He yells, and Hopper looks at him, the ways his face is pale, his eyes widened and breath quick.

“What?”

“They’re,” Steve seems to struggle to give an explanation, “super sick!”

“Sick?” Hopper asks, glancing back up the stairs.

“Very sick. Very, very, sick,” Steve explains, gaining steam now, “super sick, you don’t want to see.”

“You’re looking after them on your own?” Hopper asks, concerned now, “do you need help?”

“I’m fine, we’re fine, just… they need their rest. Ya know?” Steve flashes a smile and Hopper smiles back.

“Yeah,” he says, “I understand.” He understands all too well how sick kids can be. (The hospital, his daughter in the bed, the beeping, the pain when it all just stopped. (Hopper shut those thoughts down quickly, he was in public.))

“So really you should just-“

“I’ll go,” Hopper says, and Steve visibly sighs with relief, “call me if you need any help, yeah?”

“I will,” Steve promises, as Hopper gives him his number and lets himself be shooed out the door. It closes shut behind him, with a sense of finality that leaves Hopper almost disorientated. Hopper walks back to the car and gets in. As he drives away looks up to the window on the second floor, wondering how sick Steve’s kids are, feeling pity for the struggling single parent trying to look after them. 

The feelings vanish and he almost crashes when he sees who stares back at him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopper freaks out, Steve freaks out, everyone freaks out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note: There are vague mentions of child abuse, mostly just Hopper thinking that it's happening but it's not. Watch out for that if you need to.

Hopper went through the rest of the day almost in a daze. He went and arrested Adam Ward for the hit and run. The first time Hopper asked Adam, he denied it, but once Hopper came back and told him that he had an eyewitness that put him at the scene, he broke down and confessed. 

Hopper went through the motions of arresting him, reading him his rights and leading him back to the police station. He handed him off to Powell and went back to his desk. 

He opened up his desk and pulled out the missing child reports. He hesitated slightly, but shook it off and flicked open the file. 

There they were, all six of them. Identical to the kids that stared out the window.

But how did they get there? Was Steve keeping them there? He sure didn’t want any police in his house. He said the kids were sick, and when Hopper saw them they did look pale. Although, they all looked terrified so maybe the paleness was from that. And what were the kids so scared off?

Him? Steve?

Was Steve hurting them? Even the thought, no matter how vague and unsupported filled Hopper with disgust. He had been worried about these kids and now he found them, right under his nose, and they had been hurt? That was unacceptable. Hopper wouldn’t let himself drown in his sorrows, not while he could save them.

He marched over to Powell and threw the file down unto his desk.

“Oh, c’mon chief,” he complained, not even looking at the file, “you just gave me the hit and run.”

“I solved the kids' case,” Hopper said and Powell finally looked at the file. He dragged it towards himself and flicked it open, groaning when he saw the pictures.

“You still looking into this?” He asked.

“I found the kids,” Hopper explained, pointing to the pictures, “all of them.”

“Then they’re fine,” Powell said, exasperated, “just let it go.”

“You don’t understand,” Hopper yelled, slamming his hands onto the table, “I found all of them, in one house.”

“All six?”

“All six!”

“Well I mean,” Powell tried to come up with an explanation to appease Hopper, “they could be adopted, I mean, two loving parents could easily take care of six, I guess?”

“Only one adult and all the kids were upstairs when I was there,” Hopper said, and Powell winced, knowing that Hopper was on a roll now, “he seemed, really dodgy. Wouldn’t allow me to see them. I saw them through a window as I drove away.”

“How do you know they were these kids then,” Powell tried.

“I saw them, alright!” Hopper yelled, “and we are going to save them.”

“Now, chief-“

“Do you want to let them stay there? Where they could be hurt?” Hopper demanded and Powell shook his head.

“Well, no, but-“

“Then we need to get them," and that was the end of that conversation. Hopper rounded up several more officers, debriefing everyone on the case and then got an action plan together. 

Hopper would save those kids, no matter what.

—

After the Chief had gone, Steve let out a sigh of relief. He practically ran up the stairs and opened the bedroom door. (While the kids did share a bedroom, Steve tried to give them privacy by hanging up several sheets to create walls. There were two bathrooms though, and those were separated by gender.) 

All six kids looked over at him as the door opened, and every single one looked terrified. Even El looked rattled, and not much was able to shake her.

"What's wrong?" He asked as they all crowded around him. Everyone tried to answer him at once, the cacophony of noise assaulting his ears. "One at a time!" He yelled and the sound stopped.

"The policeman saw us," Lucas said, quietly, like saying it made it more real.

"Are you sure?" Steve asked because there was no way that after all these years of being hidden Steve had screwed it up by involving himself with the police. After all his precautions and he had been the one to ruin it.

"He looked straight at us!" Dustin said, following after Steve as he started walking down the stairs.

"Why were even at the window? You know the risks," Steve said, more frustrated with himself than with the kids. He had brought the police here, he had no one to blame but himself.

"We thought he was gone," Max said, quickly followed by Mike's "we're really sorry."

Steve stopped in the middle of the living room, looking around at the life he had created for them. He looked at the kids, clumped together and terrified, and made a decision.

"Gather your things," he said, "I'm going to drop you off at a safe house." The kids stare at him for a second before scrambling upstairs to do so. Steve gathers up some food and other supplies, filling up bottles of water and putting everything in bags. Then, when he's pretty sure they're set for a while, he sits down with his head in his hands, thinking his plan over as the kids pack. 

Mike is the first one down, to no one's surprise, and drops his backpack at Steve's feet. 

"Are you coming too?" He asks and Steve shakes his head.

"They've gotta find someone or they'll hunt us forever," he says. Mike looks down at his backpack, and then back up at Steve.

"I can stay behind," he offers, but Steve waves him off.

"I'm your guardian, and therefore, I'm the one staying back," he says, wrapping an arm around Mike's shoulders in a hug. The rest of the kids come down pretty much all at once, and Steve loads them all into the car. Packing some of the bags in the boot, and some at the kids' feet.

"Where're we going?" Dustin asks, straining against his seatbelt. El and Mike sit in the front passenger seat, while the other four sit in the back. Steve knows it's not safe driving but what other option does he have?

"Somewhere safe," Steve replies, mind already trying to figure out where they could stay.

"But where though?" Dustin presses.

"Somewhere safe," Steve repeats, "I don't know where exactly but, I'll find somewhere."

There is a silence for a second before Will says, "we made a playhouse in the woods," which is quickly followed by shouts of betrayal from the other kids.

"That was meant to be a secret," Max yells over the rest of the noise, and the kids echo her sentiment.

"Shut up!" Steve snaps, and quiet descends upon them once more, "we're going to talk about this whole secret business later," he says, although his heart hurts because he knows that there won't be a later, "but for now I'm more focused on getting you kids to safety."

"It's not too far from the house, about an hour walk," El volunteers, and Steve nods, doing a sharp u-turn to start driving into the forest. Although the car struggles across the ground, Steve follows the kids' instructions dutifully. He has to park close to the hideout as the trees get too dense, but eventually, they all make it with their bags. Steve looks over the site, it's a badly put together house but it looks like the natural landscape and it's well hidden. He helps the kids unload and gets them all comfortable inside. Steve feels hopeless, watching all his kids and knowing that this would be the last time he saw them. He gathers them all up into a hug, squishing them all together. He just holds them for a second, before he has to let go. He says goodbye and starts to walk away.

"You're going to come back, right?" Dustin asks, and Steve smiles at him.

"Of course," he promises, though they can all feel the lie. Steve walks back to his car, drives back to the house, and sits on the couch, waiting for the police to come.

—

Hopper gathers his troops and drives over to Steve's house. He can't help but feel slightly clueless. There is so much he doesn't know, but he does know that he has to get those kids. No matter what, something is wrong here, and he needs to fix it.

Hopper pulls up to the house, and the police gather outside. He holds his gun in his hand and walks up to the door. He knocks, and when no one answers, motions for some more cops to back him up.

“Police, open up!” He shouts and knocks again. He presses his ear against the wall, and only hears frantic whispering. He looks over to the other cops, nods, and kicks the door in.

—

“We can’t just let him be taken,” Dustin yells, frantic at the thought of losing Steve. 

“Well, what do you suggest we do? Fight the scientists?” Lucas asks, incredulous.

“YES!” Dustin screams.

“Well, we can’t,” Lucas says back. Dustin makes a wordless noise of fury and stomps around the tiny hideout.

“One of us could go and make sure he’s okay?” Max suggests, and Will shakes his head.

“We’re too far away,” he says.

“Well we can’t leave him and do nothing,” Dustin says, rejoining the group.

“I can go,” Mike suggests, “I’ll just run over, and then come back.” The other looks at him, in a mixture of shock and appreciation.

“Will you be okay?” El asks, reaching over to grab his hand.

“Yeah,” Mike replies, already standing up, “I’ll be fine.”

With that, he runs off. He dashes through the forest, pushing himself to go faster than ever because he knows that Steve is in danger. He reaches the house in no time and slips in through the back door. He steps quietly into the house, careful not to disturb anything. All he needs to do is find Steve and get out, maybe Steve could join them and just wait out the mayhem. That’s possible, right?

Mike turned the corner and found Steve on the couch, but he couldn’t make a quick escape as Steve spotted him immediately. 

“What are you doing?” Steve demands, shooting up and walking over.

“We just wanted to check on you!” Mike replies.

“I’m fine,” Steve grabs at Mike’s shoulders, and then his head whips around as he hears the sound of cars approaching, “oh no.”

“They’re here, aren’t they?” Mike asks, and Steve nods. He contemplates telling Mike to go upstairs but the police will just search the house once he’s gone. The backdoor can’t be presumed safe because Steve is sure they’ve got the house surrounded.

They hear a knock on the door and both stare at it in concern. 

“What do we do?” Mike whispers frantically.

“Just stay here,” Steve answers in the same quiet tone.

“Police, open up!” They hear from outside, and Mike clings to Steve.

“What do we do?” He asks for a second time, sounding more desperate.

“I don’t know, but I need to answer the door, if they see you-“

Steve is cut off by the door bursting in.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is arrested. He is very confused as to why.

Hopper was expecting a harder arrest to be perfectly honest. Steve put his hands on his head as soon as the door broke, and Hopper quickly cuffed him. One of the kids, (Mike, if he remembered from the posters,) was standing off to the side. As soon as one of the cops touched him he jerked away. The boy looked terrified, and Hopper knelt down to his level, trying to make him feel more comfortable.

“Mike,” Steve said softly, “don’t freak out, they can’t know.” Mike’s eyes seemed to widen even more, and they teared up a bit. One of the cops hit Steve on the back of the head, a reminder to stay quiet, and he cried out in pain.

Mike ran over to him, trying to hold onto Steve, but one of the cops pulled him away. Mike kicked and screamed as one of the cops tried to drag him away from Steve. Hopper eventually just had to hike the kid over his shoulder, and stuff him into the back of a cop car. 

Steve was much easier to handle, he was easily lead into the cop car, was essentially silent the whole drive, but as soon as they pulled up to the station he was crying.

“Where’s Mike?” He asked, looking around as much as he could with police officers bracketing him, “what did you do to him?”

“The better question,” Hopper said, “is what did you do to him, and the other five kids you’re holding captive?”

“What?” Steve asked as he was lead into the interrogation room in an eerie mirror to what had started this whole mess.

Hopper waited until Steve was chained down before asking him again, “what did you do to those kids?”

“What do you mean?” Steve asked right back, exasperated and scared, “I didn’t do anything to them.”

“We know that you kept those kids in your house,” Hopper said, “we want to know why and how.” 

“They chose to stay there!” Steve almost yelled, “I’m not keeping anyone anywhere.”

“Well, then where are the rest of the kids?” Steve stopped, frozen for a second, and then visibly clamped his mouth shut. Hopper stared at him for a second, and Steve turned his head away. Hopper then slammed his hands onto the table and stalked out.

—

“Hello, my name is Chief Hopper, and you are?” Of course, Hopper knew the kid's name, he went over the papers again, but Mike looked terrified sitting in the interrogation room. He kept trying to run away so they had to contain him. Of course, they had to put him in a different room from Mike, they didn’t want to expose the kid to Steve any more, worried that something might happen.

“I’m not meant to talk to you,” Mike said softly and Hopper hung his head. What had Steve been teaching these kids?

“I’m a policeman,” Hopper said, and when Mike didn’t seem to relax he continued with, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“What about Steve?” Mike asked finally looking up at the Chief.

“Well,” Hopper really didn’t want to lie to these kids, but at the moment Steve wasn’t even trying to protect himself, “that depends on what he tells us.”

“And what I tell you?” Mike asked and Hopper smiled at him a bit (he was not qualified for this).

“Yes, but you don’t have to worry about that,” he said, “nothing will happen to you, no matter what you say.”

“But it can hurt Steve?”

“Only if he deserves it,” Hopper assured him, “and we won’t hurt him, but if we find out he’s hurt you, then we will have to arrest him.”

“He hasn’t hurt me though!” Mike said, and it was the loudest words he’d spoken in the meeting, “He never would!” Hopper decided to switch tactics, the kids didn’t know how rough they had it, and maybe Mike would share something that he didn’t realise was out of the ordinary.

“Well, why don’t you tell me about a usual day with Steve,” he tried, and Mike just stared at him for a second, and then slowly shook his head.

—

Later in the day Hopper finally got around to helping check the house. Most of the things they found seemed innocent. Childish drawings, the oldest one signed by the earliest missing child, Dustin. The upstairs bedroom wasn’t exactly up to standard, but considering that they hadn’t even found where Steve slept yet it doesn’t seem too bad.

The house was moderate size, and it felt homely. It was relatively clean, there were enough dishes and enough space. Outside there was a small DIY playground, with swings hanging from a tree and a small treehouse. There was no sign of physical abuse, but Steve was still not looking too good considering he had somehow become a guardian for six kids. Illegally.

All of the kids' clothes were missing, and the fridge and pantry were emptied. It seemed like the kids had run off, or Steve had hidden them. 

The one thing that confused Hopper was a set of six notebooks. They were all written in and had a kids name on the front cover. Inside were just sets of handwritten statistics. He couldn’t make sense of it. He eventually got so fed up with figuring it out himself that he brought them to the police station to ask Steve.

“What’re these?” He demanded, throwing the notebooks onto the table.

“Books?” Steve answered, crossing his arms.

“You and I both know that these are not mere books,” Hopper said, leaning into Steve’s space. He flicked open the book labelled ‘Dustin’ and pointed to a random page, “What are these?”

“They look like numbers,” Steve answered, “and times.”

Hopper slammed his hands on the table. “These are weights, these are dates, and these are times. Why are you recording that information?”

“It’s for,” Steve hesitated, “projects?”

“Projects?” Hopper repeated.

“Yeah,” Steve said, desperately trying to make up an excuse, “they’re kids they want to make stuff.”

“Steve,” Hopper's voice became a bit softer, “we’re not idiots. We know this book does not document projects, especially because you wrote speeds, temperatures, and times instead of weights in different books.”

“I’m not,” Steve faltered, “I’m helping them.”

“Right now it looks like the opposite, you’re not helping your case by being all secretive. If you confess we can lessen your sentence, but if you don’t, we can’t help you.”

Steve stared at him, in disbelief, confused at how Hopper could think that Steve would hurt the kids. The kids he had promised to protect.

“I’m not hurting them! I’m protecting them from the-“ he stops, and then lowers his voice, “there are things that you don’t understand. The people who know about us will try and hurt us.”

“Tell me what I don’t understand,” Hopper demands.

“I can’t,” Steve replies, regretfully, “I can’t.”

Hopper stomps out and slams the door behind him.

—

Steve sat quietly in his chair. He didn’t know where Mike was if he was even okay. He didn’t know if the rest of the kids were still safe, or if the police at found them yet. He was sick with worry.

Steve, while wondering if his kids were okay, was confused about how the police were acting. Shouldn’t they know by now? Why wasn’t he being carted off back to the institute? Was Mike sent back without him?

He couldn’t even think about it. No way, they wouldn’t take only one of them back, would they?

Steve blocked that thought from his mind, but he couldn’t just stop thinking. He felt stupid, having caused this in the first place, and he felt betrayed, even though he had no right to think that Hopper was nice the first time they met. Of course, he would take them, he was part of the government, he was connected to the facility. 

He continued to sit in the interrogation room, waiting for Hopper to come back in with more accusations, or for a scientist to take him away. Some part of him hoped that someone would come and rescue them both, but he squashed the thought. It was impossible.

And so he sat, and he waited.

He didn’t have to wait long.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids launch a rescue. Steve doesn't appreciate it as much as he should.

Steve couldn’t really keep up with the chaos. One minute he was sitting down in the interrogation room, head bowed and feeling miserable. In the next, chaos erupted outside. He tried to go and see out the tiny window on the door but his hands were cuffed to the table. It was a good thing he couldn’t walk over there because not too long after the door was thrown against the opposite wall. 

El strode into the room and saw Steve and the handcuffs. She cocked her head and the cuffs snapped. Steve let them fall to the floor and rubbed his wrist as he walked over to the door.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“We’re getting you and Mike out,” El replied grabbing Steve’s hand and leading him out into the corridor, “Max is causing a distraction.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Steve said, glancing around and looking for stray police officers. Policemen had guns, the kids weren’t prepared to deal with that.

“We couldn’t let you be taken back,” El said, as they rounded a corner and met up with Dustin. Dustin was toting Mike along, but as soon as El and Steve rounded the corner, Mike ran up to El and hugged her. Dustin also ran over to Steve, although much slower, and squeezed him around the middle.

“Is everyone here?” Steve asked, looking around for Lucas and Will. (El said Max was causing a distraction so he assumed she wasn’t in the building.)

“Yeah,” Dustin replied, “Lucas is helping Max, and Will’s making sure no one else gets too close.”

“How did you all get here?” Steve asked, because he had the car at the house, and unless they all walked there, which would’ve taken ages, there should’ve been no way for them to get into the police station.

“Well…” Dustin started, and then looked over to El, who had finished hugging, and being hugged by, Mike.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, and Steve looked incredulously at her.

“Don’t worry about it?” He repeated, “all I’ve done here is worry about you guys!”

“We’re fine Steve,” Dustin said, stepping in front of Steve and stopping them both, “you made sure we were okay, but we had to come and find you.”

“It wasn’t safe, I could’ve handled myself, you didn’t need to get involved.”

“Would Mike have been okay?” El asked, and Steve looked at her, and then at Mike. 

“Yeah, are you mad we saved him?” Dustin adds on, and Steve curses the kids' ability to recognise that he cares about them more than anything.

“That’s not what I meant,” he rushes to explain, and then realises the jeopardy they’re in, standing around in the middle of the police station, arguing about stupid things when they should be running and he says “look we’ll talk about this later, lets just get out of here.”

The kids nod and El and Dustin lead the group to an exit. They slipped out the back door, surprisingly not bumping into anyone. Once they were outside, Steve looked back over at the building, trying to find Max and Lucas. He found them easily.

A whole wall not too far from the back door was missing. Max was standing in the middle of the rubble, setting fire to the things around her. Lucas was shooting at police as they tried to approach, using a slingshot and conjuring balls the size of marbles. Steve stared at them, and his jaw dropped.

“Why’re Max and Lucas over there?” He asked, voice hard. Dustin looked at him, then over at Max, and then back at Steve. He crossed his arms like Steve was being unreasonable.

“We told you, they’re the distraction,” he said, and then he rolled his eyes when Steve wouldn’t move, “they’re fine! Let’s go!”

“Where’re we going?” Steve asked as Dustin tried to pull him along, “and where’s Will?”

“We’re going to the car, and Will is there,” when Steve still hesitated Dustin sighed loudly and said, “We’ll pick up Max and Lucas on the way! Come on!” Steve relented and followed Dustin to the car. To his surprise, it was not his car. 

There was also a random man in it. 

Steve dug his heels in and Dustin looked back at him.

“Seriously Steve, what now?” He asked, considering just hiking Steve over his shoulder and carrying him to the car.

“Who’s that?” Steve asked right back, motioning at the man in the car. Mike and El are already climbing in and Steve wants to drag them back out again. The man doesn’t look very…nice.

“You must be the princess,” The man said, and Steve stares at him, “name’s Billy.”

“Why’re you here?” Steve asked, holding his arm out in front of Dustin so he couldn’t continue forward.

“Just organising your rescue,” Billy replied, “now are you getting in or what?”

Steve eyed him warily but did get in the car. Dustin hopped in the back with El and Mike. Will flickered to life there as well, eyes closed and face pale.

“Will! Are you okay?” Steve asked, twisting around so he was facing the backseats.

“Yeah,” he replied, “but we should probably get Max and Lucas.” He looks up at Steve and smiles at him, “good to see you again.”

“Good to see you too,” Steve replies, and Billy rolls his eyes. He turns the car on and then hits the gas pedal, hard.

The car goes flying around the corner, and Steve can see Max and Lucas more clearly now. Max is darting around, setting fire to everything around her. She doesn’t bother putting out her hands but just reaches out to touch anything she can reach. Lucas stands just behind the final wall of fire and shoots his marble-sized balls at police officers as they try and figure out what is going on. The fire is a decent shield for both of them and is absolutely breathtaking when you're as close as the car is. 

Billy stops for a split second as Max and Lucas scramble into the car. The officers shoot into the car, aiming for the front half so as not to hit the kids. luckily for Steve, Billy’s side is facing the police station, so Steve just ducks his head and none of the bullets hit him. Billy drives off, or more accurately, speeds off, considering Steve is sure he’s going over the speed limit. Not that he’s ungrateful, but just that it’s not safe, and illegal.

Although they just broke out of a police station and destroyed it, so a small speeding fine wouldn’t be too bad in comparison.

Billy drove the car to Steve’s house, and when everyone got out Steve didn’t even try and follow.

“Why are we here?” Steve asked, “Won’t the police just come back?”

“They’re pretty preoccupied right now,” Lucas replied, “Max did a pretty good job.”

“Yeah, we smashed the station!” Dustin yelled, pumping his fist into the air. Steve felt his lips twitch as the kids celebrated and he got out of the car. He got to the front door and quickly released that his keys had been confiscated. Luckily, the door was unlocked. 

Steve nudged the door open with his foot and looked upon the mess of his house. Police tape covered every doorway, and the rooms were a mess. He walked over to the kitchen, ripping down the police tape and opening the fridge.

It was empty.

He had given all the food to the kids.

Steve walked back out of the house, passed the confused kids and opened the car’s boot.

“Where’s the food?” He asked as the boot was unsurprisingly also empty, “and your stuff?”

“Umm,” Dustin started, “we might’ve left it back at the hideout.”

Steve sighed loudly and got back into the car. He motioned for the kids to jump in, and Billy raised his eyebrows.

“You think I’m gonna let you drive?” He asked, and Steve huffed.

“Do you know how to get there?” Steve asked right back and Billy looked at him as if he was an idiot.

“I found the kids in the first place, of course, I know where the hideout is,” he said, “so get out, I’m driving,” and Steve, embarrassed, got out of the driver's side and went to the passenger's side.

“Don’t worry,” Max said, “he didn’t even let me drive.”

Steve’s only response is a sigh.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopper is visited by "official agents" and Steve gets taught about powers.

Hopper was scared. He wasn’t scared often, in fact, he would say he had only been scared once before, but right now he was scared.

Who wouldn’t be after a child came into a police station and set everything on fire? The firefighters were called, and they managed to put out the fire but the police station was completely wrecked. One whole wall was gone, and anything near that area was burnt to a crisp. Several small balls, almost like marbles, were on the floor, and quite a few officers had bruises from where the balls had hit them. Callahan even had a black eye from where hit him. 

Luckily, Hopper’s desk was safe. Inside was most of the evidence from the case, and the missing child reports. Hopper identified the redhead as Max, the sling-shooter as Lucas and he spotted the other kids in the back of the car. Weirdly enough he thought the getaway driver looked a lot like the oldest Hargrove kid, but there was no way he was alive. No way at all.

Steve and Mike had escaped, the interrogation room doors were broken, and the cuffs were snapped. Hopper still had the notebooks though and was busy pouring over them and ignoring the damage around him.

Florence had stepped up and was currently trying to organise the rebuilding of the station and somewhere for them to work from in the meantime. Hopper couldn’t do it, he couldn’t get up and take charge when he had let this happen.

He should’ve gathered more information before surging ahead, but the thought of kids getting hurt forced Hopper to act. So now he was still researching, flipping through the notebooks and trying to find anything that could lock Steve up for good, or prove Steve was innocent and let Hopper forget this whole mess. (Although considering that the police station was in ruins he doesn’t think the rest of the officers will forget about it as easily as he wants them to.)

Someone knocks on the door, which is stupid because a whole wall is missing and if they wanted to come in they didn’t need to use the door, but Hopper got up anyway and opened it for them. On the other side of the door were two people, a man and a woman, both dressed in fancy clothes, and Hopper immediately disliked them. He didn’t know why, just that he did. They both looked at him, and then flicked open some badges.

“We’re from CPS, can we come in?” The woman asks, not waiting for a reply and pushing inside. She glanced at the destroyed wall and her partner nods at her ever so slightly. Hopper feels entirely left out.

“We’re here to tell you to drop the case,” the man says, face perfectly neutral.

“What?” Hopper asks, incredulous.

“We have been monitoring the suspect and so you don’t have to,” the woman says, “you can drop the case.”

“Besides,” the man chimes in, “it doesn’t look like you're making a lot of progress,” he sweeps his arm out towards the hole in the wall, face still neutral but Hopper can hear the smirk in his words.

“We will need to take a look at the damage, and any evidence you have,” the woman says, ignoring Hopper’s slack jaw. Hopper eventually manages to compose himself under the agents' gaze.

“Yeah, sure,” he goes to his desk and takes out the drawings they collected from the house. His hand brushes against the pile of notebooks, but he doesn’t take them out, instead, he subtly covers them with a pile of pens. He hands the drawings to the man, while the woman picks the missing posters up off his desk. “Everything else was destroyed,” he lies.

“If the officers here don’t interfere with our investigations,” the man says and Hopper’s hate grows, “we’ll pay for the damages.”

“Have a good day,” the woman finishes and they both turn on their heel and walk out of the police station. The sound of the door shutting behind them feels like a mockery.

—

The car ride to the hideout and back to the house was filled with awkward silences. Once inside the house though, Steve can ignore Billy, and so he does. He helps the kids unpack, feeds them a small dinner and then puts them to bed. Once they all settle down and he’s sure they’re asleep, Steve goes back downstairs.

Billy is sitting on the couch, sprawled out in a way that would make it hard for Steve to sit down comfortably. Steve ignores this and makes two coffees. He sets one down in front of Billy on the coffee table and holds the other in his hand.

“Thank you for helping the kids,” Steve starts and Billy waves his hand, cutting Steve off.

“Was looking for my step-sister,” he interrupts, and then when Steve looks blankly at him he says, “Max.”

“Oh,” Steve says, staring at Billy and worrying his lip.

"Whatever you wanna know just ask,” he says.

“Are you okay?” Steve asks and Billy looks over at Steve, confused.

“What?”

“I said, are you okay,” Steve looks down at his coffee and refuses to lift his gaze, “I mean, the police were shooting at you, and I’m sure their aim is passable no matter how much of a small town we are so I thought, maybe you got grazed by one, or something?” Billy stares at him for a second and then snorts.

“Plenty of bullets hit me,” he says, and Steve jumps up.

“What?” He screeches.

“But-“ Billy starts but Steve is already rummaging around in the kitchen, trying to find the first aid kit.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” He shouts, head still inside the pantry.

“Listen-“

“You shouldn’t have let me drag you along to the hideout, what if you have collapsed?”

“It’s not-“

“What if you had died?” Steve twirls around, first aid kit in hand, and bumps straight into Billy. He frantically searches for bullet holes but Billy seems whole and unharmed. “Are you making fun of me?” Steve asks.

“I’m trying to explain, that they hit me, but didn’t leave a mark,” Billy says, and Steve blinks at him, “they bounced off,” Steve blinks again, and Billy rolls his eyes, “I’m indestructible.”

“Oh,” Steve’s eyes light up, “like the kids!”

“Like you, would be a better comparison,” Billy replies and Steve laughs.

“I don’t have any powers,” Steve says, walking past Billy and picking his cup back up, “nice thought though.” Billy huffs, and grabs Steve’s shoulders and turns him around.

“You think you were in that facility for what? Fun?” He asks, almost shaking the other.

“No of course not,” Steve replies, “I think they got it wrong.”

“Why would you think that?” Billy asks incredulously.

“I’m not like the kids!” Steve shouts, and then he lowers his voice, “I can’t do things, I don’t feel drained as they do, I’m not like them.”

“You don’t have to be like them to have powers you idiot,” Billy says, “there are other ways.”

“Explain it to me then,” Steve snaps, sitting down on the couch and bringing his knees to his chest.

“You’re infuriating,” Billy says and Steve takes a sip of his coffee.

“That’s not an explanation,” Steve replied, looking at Billy expectantly. Billy huffs and sits on the couch across from Steve.

“There are two types of powers, passive and aggressive. The kids have aggressive powers, we have passive powers,” Billy pauses, making sure the other understands.

Steve looks Billy up and down and then says, “I can’t see you as anything other than aggressive.” Billy just growls and Steve smirks at him as if to say ‘see?’

“Aggressive powers,” Billy continues, ignoring Steve’s comment, “drain you if you use them. More practice means you can use them more. Passive powers just happen. You don’t control them, and you don’t get drained from using them.”

“So your indestructible and I’m…?” Steve asks

“I don’t know exactly,” Billy says, “you have this area of effect, it’s weird.”

“So I affect an area. Do I get to choose how I affect the area?” Steve asks and Billy looks at him.

“Passive power, you don’t change anything,” Billy reminds him, “you affect people by making them…like you.”

“Great,” Steve murmurs, “I have the power pretty people have.”

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Billy replies, “most of the scientist files were in code.”

“Why were you looking at their files?” Steve asks, and Billy shrugs.

“Wanted to find Max,” he says, “she’s my stepsister.” Steve nods slowly and then yawns. He offers Billy the couch and walks back upstairs to sleep. 

Steve doesn’t have a room, and he usually takes the couch, but there’s a chair upstairs that is comfortable enough, and Steve would prefer to be closer to the kids anyway.

They’ve all had a rough time, and Steve suspects it will only get worse.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gets a visitor and Hopper does some research.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sorry that it took me ages to publish this chapter, it's been a struggle. 
> 
> Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments, they were all super nice and encouraging!

Steve wakes up first in the morning. He creeps downstairs, passing the couch where Billy is sleeping silently, and then enters the kitchen. He takes the bread out of the pantry and gathers all the spreads. He tries to be extra quiet as he prepares the usual breakfast buffet but is acutely aware of every sound he makes. When he moves the glasses they ring against each other, and Steve has to keep making sure that everyone is still asleep. 

A knock on the door startles Steve and he almost drops a plate. He quickly stacks it on the pile and goes over to the door. Steve is hesitant to open it, considering how early it is, but he did anyway. He regretted it immediately.

On the other side of the door are two well-dressed people, a woman and man, both wearing suits. They looked like people from the government.

“Steven,” the woman says, and they step as if to go inside but Steve stops them.

“Who’re you?” Steve asks.

“You don’t need to know that Steve,” the man replies, “all you need to know, is that we are from the agency, and we want to speak with you.”

“How did you find me?” Steve asks, terrified. 

“We always knew where you were,” the woman says, “you thought we didn’t?’

“You’re still part of the experiments,” the man continues.

“What?” Steve says, confused and scared.

“Kids can’t break out of the facility,” the man says as if Steve is stupid, “we let them out.”

“We've been keeping tabs on how they progress under your care."

"Why would you..." Steve trails off, frozen in fear and confusion.

"We studied your ability," the women replies, not even acknowledging Steve's fear, "you increase their survival rate simply by being near them."

"Your ability," the man says, once again explaining as if Steve is a child, "affects all those in a specific area around you, you increase the chance of survival a being has, and because of this most people view you as they need to help or something that can help them. You project a feeling of safety."

"You're a beacon," the woman says, "we couldn't have lost you in the first place." Steve feels himself grow faint and grips the doorframe to keep upright.

"Because of the...unpredictably of the experiment, we had to keep a close eye on you," the man says, "hence Mrs Butch."

"Mrs Butch is a..." Steve asks, face paling.

"Yes, scientist 367, she was keeping an eye on things that happened here," the woman says, checking her nails absently, "but now that the police are involved we have to step in, something that is not ideal."

"But it has to happen," the man says, "we don't have any more experiments like Billy that we can just let go to get you out of the prison, so here is the ultimatum," he pauses, almost for dramatic effect but probably just because he wants to watch Steve suffer, "you involve the police again and we stop the experiment."

"We take away the kids, and put you back in the facility," the woman says, just to clear up any confusion.

Steve doesn't even get to respond before they both turn and walk away from the house. He feels his legs give out from underneath him and just sits there in the doorframe, breakfast forgotten.

On a cold morning, Steve's life is irreversibly changed, and so he starts to cry.

—

Hopper finds that the CPS agents have taken everything regarding Steve’s case. They’ve confiscated all video evidence, along with anything Hopper left out. They’ve raided the evidence room, taking anything that could be related. They’ve even taken the destroyed pieces of the office away with them. 

Hopper isn’t sure how, considering that he hasn’t seen the two people come back. He has seen similarly well-dressed people come in and remove it, but he hasn’t seen any identification or official papers. 

Although it’s not like Hopper can challenge them, considering the disaster the case ended up being.

He does manage to save the notebooks though, and when Hopper goes home in the evening, he takes the notebooks with him. He hides them in his bag and carries them home with him in secret. He doesn't know why he kept them, doesn't know why he didn't give them to the CPS agents, but he knows that something important is in them, something that could help solve this whole mess.

At home, he clears a space on his table, and carefully lays out the notebooks. He procrastinates on opening them by sorting them by various means. He sorts them alphabetically first, but that doesn’t sit right with him, so he sorts from oldest to newest. Hopper isn’t happy with that either and so he sorts them by how relevant they are. He starts with Mike, as he was the one they arrested along with Steve, but quickly realises that he doesn’t know who to put next. Eventually, he decides to wing it, not bothering with making an order.

He starts with Mike's, opening it and looking upon the rows of writing. There are three columns: date, speed and length of rest. Most of the speeds in the speed column are estimates, but every single one of them is incredibly fast. The slowest one there is faster than a car. Hopper can't figure out why Steve would've written these numbers down. Is it a code?

Hopper flicks through Mike's book until he sees something unusual. He stops at that page and looks at the note at the very edge of the margin. 

'Mike refused to rest today, keep an eye on him' it reads. Hopper stares at the page for a full minute before flicking forward a few pages in the hopes of another note. The next one reads 'too fast!' and it's next to one of the highest speeds in the whole book. 

Hopper, encouraged by this new discovery, opens up Max's notebook. He's most concerned about her because she was literally playing with fire. She didn't care that she was in the middle of a burning building and only wanted to set fire to things.

Her book has four columns: date, time playing, length of rest, and destroyed. The destroyed column rarely has anything in it, but when it does it's usually items of furniture or trees. Hopper wonders what kind of person Steve is, letting Max play with fire. 

He flips through her book as he did with Mike's, looking for any additional notes. He finds one very early on, and it says 'when she's stressed she can't control it,' followed by a list of crossed out stress toys, with those same toys in the destroyed column of the next few entries. Hopper flicks through the book some more, seeing Steve's various entries where he worries about her friendships and her control. 

Hopper repeats the process with all the other books, gradually realising that Steve, while struggling, is an excellent caregiver. Hopper also realises that there is something extraordinary about these kids, something that he doesn't quite understand. 

He busies himself throughout the night, trying to found out as much as he can from what Steve has written in the margins. He works through the night and for once doesn't touch alcohol at all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopper goes searching, Billy goes searching, Steve is stressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for waiting for this chapter, school's kicked back into high gear and I've just been a bit overwhelmed.
> 
> Also, thank you to everyone who commented! They all mean so much to me.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, everything is definitely coming together.

Hopper decides to go searching for Steve again. Not to arrest him, he’s been told not to, but to talk to him. He just needs to clear things up, get some answers.

He gets into his car and then realises that he drives the sheriff’s car and as soon as Steve sees it he’ll probably run. He promptly gets out of his car and walks back into the station. He walks up to Florence at the office.

“I need your car,” he says. Florence just stares at him. “Please,” he tacks on the end.

“Why should I give you my car?” Florence asks.

“I’m not gonna run it into a ditch,” Hopper starts and Florence raises her eyebrow.

“You destroyed the police station,” she rebuts.

“That was the suspect’s fault and you know it,” Hopper took a deep breath, “I’m looking into a lead and I think that the sheriff’s car is not the most inconspicuous of vehicles.”

“You need to sneak around?” Florence asks, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

“I’m going to one spot, and then I’m coming back,” Hopper explains. Florence looks at him flatly and then pulls out her keys with a roll of the eyes. Hopper takes them before she can change her mind.

“You get a scratch on my car and I’ll ruin you!” She yells as Hopper leaves. He waves her off as he pushes the door open. 

He does come back in to ask her which car is hers.

—

Billy wakes up when a blast of cold air hits him. He turns over and tries to get warm again but his blanket doesn't keep out the cold. He reluctantly sits up to try and figure out why cold air is hitting him when he's trying to sleep.

From where Billy is, he can see the front door wide open. On high alert, he gets up silently and freezes when he sees someone crouching in the doorframe. He creeps over carefully, but when he recognises the figure as Steve he relaxes.

"What are you doing?" He asks softly, crouching down to be level with Steve. 

"Did I wake you?" Steve asks back, "sorry."

"It's fine," Billy answers, and Steve turns around to look at him. His cheeks are caked in tears and his eyes are red and puffy. "What happened?" Billy asks.

“We had a visitor,” Steve explains as Billy helps him up of the ground, “they were from the facility.”

“Oh,” Steve looks at Billy, eyes guarded. Billy feels strangely guilty, even though he saved Steve.

“They said that I wasn’t allowed to get the police involved again, because they didn’t have anyone else like you to come and get me,” Steve pulls his arm out of Billy’s grip, “you’re working for them?”

“No!” Billy protests, “I hate them!”

“They said they let you out!” Steve shouts, “they said that you were told to find me! And you just did!”

“Wait-“

“They knew where I was this whole time!”

“Listen-“

“I’ll never be free of them!”

“Steve!” Billy shouts, and Steve falls silent, chest heaving and eyes watery. They just stare at each other until Steve turns and storms off into the kitchen. An awkward silence falls over the house, and Steve flinches when Billy closes the door.

Billy sits back on the couch and thinks about starting a conversation but never does. 

—

Later in the day, Steve is preparing lunch, and the kids huddle around the kitchen bench talking amongst themselves.

"Should we hide again?" Dustin asks, "are the police coming back?"

"We destroyed the station though," Max chimes in, "so we should be fine, right?" She looks at Steve, unsure.

"They can rebuild it," Mike answers.

"That'll take them ages," Lucas butts in, "we're fine for now."

"What if we bump into them when we go out?" Will asks and Max scoffs.

"We destroyed their holding cells, they can't arrest us," she says.

“They can still arrest us though,” Lucas points out, “they have handcuffs.”

“Where would they keep us?” Max shoots back, “in their homes?”

Steve serves them each a sandwich, effectively halting their conversation as they all tuck in. He takes a sandwich to the lounge and sets it on the coffee table in front of Billy. Billy looks at the sandwich and then back up at Steve. He grabs it and takes a bite. Steve goes back to the kitchen and grabs his own sandwich, and after a second of thought brings it out to the lounge and sits on the couch next to Billy.

“I’m sorry,” he says, setting the sandwich down and turning to face the other, “I was just wound up and I took it out on you.”

Billy stares at him for a second and then shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it,” he says, “I should’ve told you they let me out.”

“Is Max even your step-sister?” Steve asks, changing subjects quickly.

“Yep,” Billy replies, popping the p, “dad married her mum, then sold us both off to that place.”

“So you and Max remember stuff from before the facility?” Steve asks, glancing over at the kids and then picking up his sandwich to eat.

“Just me, Max was too young I think,” Billy says, “you don’t?” 

“Don’t remember anything from before,” Steve replies shaking his head. The conversation halts there so the two sit and eat their sandwiches. The silence is only broken when Dustin comes over and practically begs for another one. Steve huffs but complies and makes him another sandwich for him to inhale. Soon enough all the kids are scrambling over themselves to get another one and by the end of it, Steve is seriously considering rationing the bread now. He doesn’t want to have to go out for a while.

Once everyone seems full he sits them all in front of the TV, hoping that the brightly coloured cartoons will entice them enough to stay inside. He really doesn’t want to deal with trying to keep them all safe from themselves when he’s stressed about what the outside world holds. 

Strangely enough, when the kids are settling themselves on the couch, Billy is nowhere to be seen. Once the kids are settled, Steve wonders around the house trying to find him. When the first floor turns up empty he walks up to the second floor and finds Billy standing in the middle of the kids' room.

“What are you doing?” Steve asks, glancing around the room and trying to find something out of place.

“Just wondering around,” Billy says shrugging, “got bored.”

“Okay,” Steve replies, “the kids are watching cartoons if you wanna join them,” Billy shakes his softly but Steve continues anyway, “I know it seems childish but they’re kind of fun actually, and you can really-“

“Where do you sleep?” Billy interrupts.

“What?” Steve asks, and Billy shrugs.

“Couldn’t find the master bedroom. Wondered where you sleep.”

Steve scoffs, “the house had two bedrooms but I thought the kids deserved more space so I let them have it.”

“Where do you sleep though?” Billy asks again, and Steve rolls his eyes.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m not giving this up,” Billy says, “where do you sleep?”

“Downstairs.”

“Where?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes,” Billy insists, “where?”

“On the couch,” Steve relents. Billy opens his mouth as if to say something but Steve turns on his heel and walks out of the room and back downstairs.

Once he does he wishes he had just sucked it up and continued the talk with Billy. Anything would’ve been better than seeing the Chief of Police sitting at the kitchen table while the kids glared at him.

Better yet, Steve should have just slept this whole day away.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopper barges in and Steve finds another ally.

Hopper drove Florence’s car all the way back to Steve’s house. He hoped to find any information that might help him find all of them. He pulled the door open, noting that the police tape around the house had been pulled down, and was promptly swarmed by children.

Hopper and the kids stared at each other, and both parties stood there, frozen.

Hopper took a cautious step forward and the kids seemed to explode into motion, running off in different directions. When the pattering of footsteps died down Hopper took a few more cautious steps into the house. He felt like he was intruding, but at the same time, he couldn't see Steve anywhere and so he felt like it was okay for him to make sure the kids were fine. Maybe Steve had run off and now the kids had been alone until Hopper showed up.

Although considering that making assumptions like that was what got him into this mess in the first place, maybe leaving would be the better option.

Hopper had just taken a step into the kitchen when he was lifted up and deposited into a chair. Before he could move a series of ropes wrapped around him, trapping him there. One of the kids, Mike, was holding onto the other end of the rope, and he tugged on it as if to make sure it was secure. 

Hopper sat there, stunned, while the kids gathered around him again. He opened his mouth to speak and one of the girls, Max, slammed her hand over his mouth. 

"What're we gonna do?" She hissed.

"I don't know!" Dustin replied, almost frantically.

"We can't let him go!" Max insisted, taking her hand off Hopper's mouth and starting to pace.

"We can't keep him here," Will says, "he's a cop!"

The kids get into a hushed argument, and Hopper just sits quietly, knowing that he won't be able to interrupt without further aggravating them. 

A creak sounds from upstairs, and the kids fall silent, listening as two pairs of footsteps stomp down the stairs. Hopper sees Steve round the corner into the kitchen, running a hand through his hair. Steve lifts his head, spots Hopper, and turns around again.

Hopper can see Steve standing in the doorframe of the kitchen, back to the kids. He stands there for a few seconds and lets out a long sigh, before turning around again and coming back in.

"Please tell me you didn't kidnap a police officer," Steve says, rubbing his forehead.

"He came in!" Dustin protests and Steve just shoots him a glare.

"Why is he tied up?" He asks, looking over at the kids and spotting Mike holding the rope. The kid drops it quickly and Hopper can feel his bonds loosening. 

"We didn't want him running off and telling everyone," Mike answers. Steve looks over at Hopper for the second time since he walked into the kitchen and sighs.

"Shoo," he says to the kids, gently motioning them out, "I wanna have a talk with the Chief here, okay?" The kids look at each other but at Steve's insistence leave the kitchen. Hopper watches them go and sees another person standing in the doorway of the kitchen. The man there turns with the kids and follows them into the next room. 

It takes Hopper a second to figure out that this other man was the getaway driver, but by the time he has Steve has pulled up a chair and sat across from Hopper.

"I'm not allowed to look into your case anymore," Hopper blurts out, and Steve seems relieved, "I was told off by CPS."

"Then why'd you come into my house?" Steve asks, and Hopper feels intensely guilty.

"I needed more answers," Hopper says, "and I thought you might be able to help me. I didn't mean to scare the kids."

Steve looks away, and then back at Hopper and the ropes around him. 

"I guess you already kind of know," he says, "the kids are...enhanced."

"Enhanced?" Hopper asks, voice cracking in the middle of the word, "how?"

"I thought you realised?" Steve says, cocking his head to the side, "Dustin picked you up I'm guessing, and Mike ran the rope around you. Surely you know that no normal kid could do that?" 

“I mean,” Hopper starts, “is that like what Max did at the station? With the fire?”

“Yeah,” Steve replies, “she’s a bit unstable with it though.” Steve gnaws on his lip as if contemplating whether or not to tell Hopper more.

“I’m not going to arrest you again,” Hopper rushes to explain, wanting to know more, “I’ve been told not to investigate anymore.”

“So why are you?” Steve asks, and what can Hopper say? He wanted to know more himself so selfishly tracked Steve down again? His thirst for knowledge almost forced these kids to have to escape, again?

“They were dodgy,” Hopper says, going with that excuse, “didn’t seem like they were taking over, more like they didn’t want us doing anything.”

“They probably weren’t official then,” Steve says softly, “probably just people from the agency, covering everything up.”

“What do you mean?” Hopper asks and Steve’s brain comes to a halt. Should he tell Hopper? Who can say that this isn’t just a ploy, just the agency looking for an excuse to drag Steve back? But on the other hand, how good would it be for Steve to have someone else in his corner, someone who was in a position of power?

And so Steve opens his mouth and lets it all out. He lets out the years he spent in the labs, doing experiments and wondering if all the world was made of white walls. He tells Hopper about the feeling of elation when he finally left, the pride and joy of building a life away from the agency. He tells Hopper about the kids, how he loves them and looks after them. How their powers drive him insane sometimes but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He tells Hopper of this morning when his world came crashing down around him, how everything he had built was a lie.

And at the end of his tirade, he speaks in a soft, slow voice of his dreams for the future. That one day he’ll finally be free, that he’ll be able to get rid of the threats once and for all. In a small voice, he asks Hopper for help, asks him to help look after the kids.

Hopper, more distraught for this man than he has ever been in his life, says yes.

Together, in a small kitchen in the middle of nowhere, Hopper and Steve start to plan the end of Hawkins National Laboratory.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Billy backstory, some plans being made, some feelings developing.

Billy is still tense as he walks down the stairs. He’s tense as he makes eye contact with Steve, barely giving the officer a glance, and leaving the kitchen. He turns the TV on and tries to distract the kids, and slowly starts to relax when he can’t hear anything that sounds like fighting. 

As soon as Steve and the officer, or Chief as Steve introduces him, come back into the room, Billy tenses up again. The two of them drag Billy back into the kitchen and start to tell him about their plan to destroy the laboratory. 

“Are you insane?” Billy asks, looking over at the plans in front of him. The kitchen counter is covered in papers, all of them hand drawn or handwritten. Some look like sketches of lab floor plans, while others contain a list of steps and times. Nothing looks official enough. Nothing looks prepared enough.

And that terrifies him.

Steve and the kids have become important to him, and in this short amount of time, he’s started to feel connected to them in a way he had never felt to anyone else. The lab almost never let him out to play with anyone else. He was too old, too unpredictable. He hadn’t been able to interact with them because the scientists feared he would disrupt them too much.

He hadn’t even been able to see Max anymore.

He had heard when Steve ‘escaped’. Who hadn’t? The whole lab was going crazy. There were excited because Steve had taken the bait, left through the door they had left unlocked. When Steve finally settled in the house the scientists were ecstatic. He had settled into life, started to be comfortable and secure, and now they could continue with the plan. 

Then, slowly, the kids started being let out. Billy kept waiting for his turn, waiting to be free again, but after the third kid, Billy started to realise that he wasn’t ever going to get out. All of the previous kids had been in the lab for life, even Steve, and so Billy had little hope that he would be let out. 

The scientists weren’t finished with him yet. They put him through more tests, more trials, and during this time he had to listen as three more kids were let free. And then, after them, Max.

He’s not her brother. They’re step-siblings. He doesn’t care.

But he does. It hurt when she was picked and not him, but after a while, with no new kids leaving, the hurt left.

And in its place is fear.

Gripping, cold fear, worry about the kids. He hasn’t been able to hear any news, he doesn’t know if they're okay. What if the project was terminated, what if they were terminated?

What if Max was terminated?

Then one day he was called upon, told to find Steve and get him out of jail and then dropped off in the middle of nowhere with a bright red car. Thankfully Steve was also in the middle of nowhere. He managed to get the kids and then Steve, which brings him back to this moment where this stranger had butted in and was trying to get them to fight the lab.

“We’ve planned it all out,” Steve says, hands waving as he sorts through the papers on the table and Billy scowls.

“You wanna go up against a huge organisation?” He asks, “That’s been a step ahead of us for so long?”

“If we get rid of them we’ll be fine!” Steve says, still searching through the papers.

“How though?” Billy demands.

“I can get the police station to help us,” the chief says, Billy hates him even more.

“And we’ve got the kids, Billy!” Steve buts in, “we’ve got the firepower.”

“What if there’re more kids there though?” Billy asks and Steve stills for a second before looking over at the chief.

“We’ll capture any, safely,” the chief says, “if what you said is true then they won’t want to fight for the scientists anyway.”

“Wait,” Billy says, “what did you tell him?” He asks, sudden rage filling him at the thought of this stranger knowing everything when even Billy doesn’t. 

Steve fiddles with his hands as he answers; “just stuff about the labs, just about the kids and stuff.”

“This complete stranger?” Billy asks, only half aware that his voice is getting louder. He’s probably scaring the kids and Steve but he’s too high strung to care, “did you forget what he was doing to us only a few days ago? Are you just going to forgive him for everything?”

“He’s apologised!” Steve yells back, righteous anger filling him and making him puff up like a bird.

“So what?” Billy shouts back, “we don’t know what he’s capable of! He could be tricking us for all we know!”

“He’s not going to!” Steve yells right back, almost screeching. Billy sees red and brings his arm up for a punch, only to be stopped at the last second by the chief holding his arm.

“I don’t know what is going on here,” he says, voice deceivingly soft but growly, like the first warning from a bear, “but I will cuff you if it continues.” Billy stares at him for a second, regret already filling him after trying to hit Steve. He wrenches his arm out of the Chief’s grip and the room is silent except for the harsh breathing from all three.

“Are you going to help us?” Steve asks softly like he’s thinking that Billy will just walk away, as if he could.

Billy takes a deep breath.   
“Yes,” he says, and then he sits down and starts helping. He knows that Steve is affecting him, his power making Billy want to do this and agree, but he also thinks that maybe he would be doing this even if he wasn’t being affected in this way.

By the end of the afternoon they have a solid plan, and the Chief, or Hopper as he prefers to be called, had been properly introduced to the kids. From what Billy could see Hopper wasn’t a threat. He adored the kids and seemed to take a particular shine to El. Steve had watched with a smile on his face as everyone was properly introduced. He made everyone sandwiches for lunch and started to debrief the kids on what there were going to do.

The kids were surprisingly helpful, able to give more information and insights into what they could do. Steve carefully notes down how the kids want to help, but then shoos them back out into the living room so they can continue planning.

As Steve walks out with the kids around his ankles, Billy can’t help but watch him. He watches him as he leaves, and sees his smile fade as he comes back. Billy thinks, ever so quietly, that whatever he can do to make that smile come back, he will. 

He’ll go down fighting for that smile. 

He has the terrifying feeling that he just might.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argh, thank you so much for waiting for this newest chapter, hopefully the next one will come out a lot sooner. Everything is wrapping up nicely though, the end is in sight and I am definitely not giving this up!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's planning, training, and some are just getting into arguments.

During the days leading up to the attack, Billy and Steve trained the kids harder than ever before. They pushed them past their limits, training for almost every spare second of the day. Hopper had given Steve his notebooks back, on the condition that he explained to Hopper all the kids' powers.

Hopper, although awestruck by each and every one of the kids, had grown particularly fond of El, talking to her more than the others. Billy thought it was weird but knew that whatever happened El could definitely hold her own against anyone. Also, Billy overheard El telling Steve that Hopper was just lonely and wanted to talk to someone and decided that maybe they all had something like that in common.

Steve had let the kids work as much as they wanted to, letting Mike go faster than he usually would, or Dustin lift more than he ever had before. He flitted around them nervously though, making sure everyone was accounted for and no one was getting hurt. Billy managed to catch Mike when he tripped over a stick going full speed and the thankful smile Steve gave him made him wish that he could go back in time and see it again and again. 

Every night Steve would hunch over the notebooks, making sure to note down all the information from the day. Both Billy and Hopper would help him, correcting his numbers and helping him remember who did what. Together they tracked the kids as their progress skyrocketed.

One afternoon, Steve sat down with Will in the living room and asked everyone else to leave them alone. Once everyone left the room, Steve asked Will to set up a mental link and go into his little pocket dimension. Steve sat on the couch for three hours, silently communicating with Mike as he did something no-one else could see. 

Billy and Hopper struggled through making everyone dinner and was just serving it up when Mike suddenly stiffened in his chair.

“Wow,” he breathes, and the rest of the kids huddle around him in awe.

“What’s going on?” Dustin asks as the rest of the kids hold their breath in anticipation.

“Will set up a three-way communication!” He says, and then screws his eyes shut in concentration. Next Lucas feels the wiggling strain behind his eyes as Will makes contact with him.

"Please be quiet, Will is concentrating," Steve's voice comes floating through the mental link so Lucas and Mike try and keep their thoughts to a minimum. 

Next is Dustin, then El, then Max, each feeling the connection to Will, each staying silent as they realise what is going on. Steve keeps a quiet reminder to remain silent running like a gentle hum in the background as the kids feel Will struggle to connect them all. Their connection was strenuous, stretched between all of them and almost ready to break. Like a rubber band stretched too far in every direction. The house remains still for a split second before the band snaps, not into pieces but seemingly into place. Suddenly, like a puzzle piece clicking into place, the bond settles.

“Did I get everyone?” Will asks softly across the bond, and the kids in the kitchen let out a loud cheer where they sit. A second later the bond collapses and Will runs into the room, a huge smile on his face as he practically collapses into the group hug that awaits him. Steve comes trotting in a second later, smile as wide as Mike’s. He runs over to Billy and Hopper, knocking them both in his glee.

“You guys all good? The kids went quiet for a second,” Hopper asks, motioning with a plate and barely avoiding everything falling off. Billy glared at him.

“Watch it, I made that Mac and cheese,” he says snatching the plate. Steve takes the plate out of Billy’s grasp and sets it gently on the table, the smile never once leaving his face.

“And it looks delicious,” he says, patting Billy on the arm, (bringing up a blush he doesn’t seem to notice,) “but to answer your question, Hopper, Mike was able to connect all the kids together in a mental link. We’ve never done that.”

“He’s progressing well then?” Hopper asks and Steve nods, shooing Billy and Hopper out of the kitchen so he can hand out the rest of the dinner.

“Yes, very,” he says, plating up the rest of the Mac and Cheese, “also, this means we can proceed with the plan.”

“Huh?” Billy asks, and Steve just smiles at him.

“We were worried about communication, remember? Mike offered to help, and this way we can’t be tracked and he can’t get hurt,” Steve explains as he sets the last plate down. The kids settle down around the table, still chatting excitedly to each other.

“Thanks!” They chorus already stuffing their mouths with food.

“All good!” Steve calls back as he turns to Billy and Hopper to continue their conversation. “I just thought that the sooner everything got put in place the sooner we could attack.”

“So you trained Mike to be our radios?” Hopper asks and Steve nods.

“When he’s in his little extra dimension he can’t be affected by stuff in our dimension,” Steve frowns, “at least I don’t think so,” his frown goes as fast it came, “anyway, that means he’ll be safe, and our method of communication will be completely hidden from their cameras.”

“Is he okay with this?” Hooper asks, mind uncomfortably remembering his earlier suspicions of abuse but wondering if maybe he was correct.

“Of course!” Steve says, “we’ve been working on multiple connection communication for ages now, he just managed to get it right today. Sure he pushed himself a bit too hard but now that he’s got it he’ll be able to do it,” Steve explains, handing both men a serve of macaroni and cheese before getting one for himself.

“There’s no reason to push them too hard, though,” Hopper argues and Steve suddenly goes quiet. He seems to be thinking hard for a second before answering.

“I want to attack tomorrow night,” he says, and Billy freezes in place.

“What?” He asks softly and Steve glances away.

“We need to do it as soon as possible, so we have the advantage of surprise,” Steve replies, before locking eyes with him, “everything is ready, why wait?”

“The lab is dangerous, we are nowhere near ready enough,” Billy argues back and Steve glares at him.

“The sooner we do it the better,” Steve argues back, “I want to be out of their grasp.”

“By putting the kids in danger?” Billy asks and Steve stills completely, and Billy realises his mistake but he can’t back down now.

“I would never,” Steve swears.

“Just think before doing it,” Billy says, desperately trying to avoid a blowup.

“I have been thinking about it,” Steve hisses, “I’ve been thinking about it for years, I’ve been thinking about it since I first got out. I just want to get it done.”

“If everyone is ready we can do it tomorrow night,” Hopper says, “but we need to make sure everyone knows what they need to be doing.” Steve relaxes and nods at Hopper. He ignores Billy as he goes to grab his dinner and then leaves the room, stressed about tomorrow but relieved that they are finally going to do it.

After dinner, he sends all the kids to bed and the adults sit down together to finalise everything so it’s easy for tomorrow. Hopper doesn’t bother going home and takes one of the chairs in the living room. Billy and Steve have a standoff over who should get the couch, but in the end, Steve wins and Billy is forced to sleep there. Steve walks back upstairs and gets himself comfortable in the little armchair. 

There, watching over the kids, he feels better than he had the whole day. He just knows that in a few days they would all be free.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our friend the bat is brought to life, and whats this? Emotions?

In the morning, Billy wakes up and expects to see Steve bustling around the kitchen, food cooking on the stove and some of the early risers around his feet. This morning none of that is present. The kids that are usually awake at this time are in the kitchen but just sitting quietly. A hush has seemed to settle over the house, everyone seemingly noticing the tension that wanting destroying a government agency would give you.   
Billy wonders around the house, noticing the kids telling him good morning but being unusually quiet about it. He notices noises coming from outside and follows the sound out into the backyard. There he finds Steve, almost obsessively hammering nails into a wooden bat. Billy stops a few feet away and calls out.

“You good over there?” He asks and Steve whips his head up, looking frightened for a second before realising that it’s just Billy.

“Yeah,” he replies, ducking his head again and banging in another nail.

“What are you doing?” Billy replies, slightly annoyed at being ignored.

“Making a weapon,” Steve replies as he picks up the bat and seems to weigh it in his hands, “felt like I needed one.” He swings it experimentally and Billy feels vaguely sorry for whatever poor sap is on the receiving end of that thing

“Why’d you need a weapon though?” Billy asks, “you got us, and your power makes you basically invincible.”

“That’s your ability,” Steve shoots back, gathering the spare nails and putting them back into the little toolbox.

“Not literally,” Billy says, watching as Steve puts the hammer in the box as well and closes it, “you know you have that ‘attraction’ effect, I doubt anyone would want to hurt you.” Steve frowns and faces him.

“They tested that I’m pretty sure,” he replies, eyes looking off into the distance in contemplation, “had people come in who liked me so much they tried to kill me.”

“Oh,” Billy says, subdued. He had almost forgotten that Steve had to go through the experiments too. For some reason thinking of Steve is that lab felt wrong, like his presence there is just some awful dream. He doesn’t dare to voice this thought aloud, he already knew that Steve wouldn’t react well to this thought, might even act as if he was told Billy didn’t believe that he came from the lab.

“Yeah,” Steve says, almost defeatedly, “I’ve been thinking back over what they did to me in that place, everything’s a bit clearer now.”

“Like what?” Billy asks, idly noting that the bat and toolbox laying almost forgotten, the conversation taking precedence for both of them.

“Put me in mazes, had other people running after me. Not scientists I don’t think. They were probably just random citizens they pulled off the street. They put me in the middle, let me run around as much as I wanted and let the others try and track me down. I think they timed it,” Steve explains, “wanted to see how long it took for them to track me down I guess.”

“They sent random people after you?” Billy asks, wondering how a huge lab could just drag in people and still have nothing get out to the public.

“May have been prisoners,” Steve says, “some of them were pretty violent, talked about how good they were at murdering people. I think they might’ve been trying to reassure me.”

“They sent prisoners after you?” Billy responds incredulously, “they didn’t worry about your safety?”

“They put wild animals in my cell with me, I doubt they were too worried about my safety,” Steve says, almost flippantly, “besides, they probably had contingency plans. Once they put everyone in the maze to sleep, used some kind of sleeping gas. I don’t know why though.” Billy froze and furrowed his eyebrows, he felt rage build up inside him, the knowledge that the lab had put Steve in such danger that he didn’t even seem to realise.

Steve apperently took notice of Billy’s uncomfortable state and quickly turned to pick up his bat and toolbox. He held them both for a second, awkwardly trying to balance everything before Billy came over and plucked the toolbox from his grasp. The stood opposite each other for a second, both waiting for the other to speak.

“It’s in the past now,” Steve finally relents, and Billy grabs his arm as he starts to turn away.

“It’s okay to feel bad about what happened to you,” Billy says and Steve just stares at him.

“I have the kids to look after,” he replies as if it’s any kind of argument. 

“Who’s looking after you?” Billy asks. Steve seems to think it over for a moment before Billy drags him into his chest and into a hug. 

“The bat!” Steve protests, and indeed the bat embedded with nails is stuck between the two, inches away from tearing both their chests open. Well, Steve’s at least. Billy would be fine.

Billy relents, pulling back a little and Steve lets the bat fall to his side. They both know that this is the perfect opportunity for either of them to step away and ignore the comfort the other is offering, however, Steve steps back into Billy’s embrace and they just stand there and hug each other.

Suddenly a sharp shout comes from inside, swiftly followed by several voices talking over each other and at least half the kids calling out for Steve. The two boys separate and Steve glances back over at the house.

“Guess that’s my cue, huh?” He asks and Billy nods. He grabs the toolbox and follows Steve as he walks inside. He stashes the bat in the umbrella holder next to the door and continues into the kitchen. Billy watches on as Hopper explains that he was ‘just trying to make breakfast’ and Steve examines the slight burn on his arm.

“It wasn’t me!” Max pipes up, soundly on the other side of the room and looking the most startled out of all of them.

“Course not,” Steve says as he runs Hopper’s arm under cold water, “the toaster just got too hot.”

Steve rounds everyone up and manages to save breakfast, and once he does everyone finally settles back down. Afterwards, Steve, Hopper and Billy debrief the kids on what’s happening later that evening, making sure each child knows exactly what they are meant to do. Steve makes them all lunch and then they all get everything ready. Steve instructs the kids to keep getting ready and drags Billy and Hopper into a secluded corner of the house.

“I want you two to look after the kids if anything happens,” he says. Hopper and Billy both want to protest, but they know that an argument isn’t what Steve needs so they both just agree.

“Nothing’ll happen to them,” Billy says, and they all go back to their work. Soon enough everything is ready and they all get into the two cars. Hopper starts his engine and drives away from the house, Billy following close behind. It’s all finally happening.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plan A is a go!  
> Whoops.  
> Plan B is a go!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for waiting, I promise we are so close to the end. The next chapter is a monster one, and the ones after that will be wrapping up. Once again, thank you all so much, you're amazing!

They pull up to the lab as the sun starts to set on the horizon. Hopper pulls his car up first, Steve sitting in his passenger seat. Will sits behind both of them and as soon as the car stops he flickers out of existence. Steve and Hopper feel the slight tingle behind their eyes as Will connects them all together.

“Okay,” Hopper says softly, looking uncomfortable with the feeling of the connection. 

“Weird, isn’t it?” Steve says, glancing back as if checking on Will even though they both know he’s not visible right now. Hopper scratches at his forehead, grunts out a quick affirmative and opens the car door on his side. Steve follows suit and together they leave the car. Steve’s hand flits towards the backseat door, his habit of opening doors for the kids taking over before he remembers that Will doesn’t need to leave the car yet, and opening a door for someone who wasn’t there would look suspicious. Both men knew that cameras were used here, even though they had parked a not on the actual property but just off to the side. Together they walked all the way to the driveway and were stopped by the security guard.

“What’re you doing here?” The guard demanded, shining the flashlight at both of them. Steve grabbed Hopper’s hand and used his other arm to shield his eyes.

“Can you ask for Scientist 367? Mrs Butch?” Steve asks, and the guard stops for a second. The plan depends on them getting inside, and to do that they need the guard to know who the scientists are and what they’re doing. It’s an insane stretch but hopefully, it pays off.

“What do you want her for?” The guard asks, and Steve takes a step closer so they’re not shouting.

“Please I have to talk to her,” he pleads, before pulling out his last resort, “just tell her that Steve is asking for her.” It’s risking revealing his name this early on, but the guard retreats back into his stall and dials a number. He talks to someone on the other end of the line, flicking his eyes back over to Steve and Hopper ever now and again. Eventually, he hangs up and opens the gate.

“I’m escorting you in,” he says, and it’s more than the two of them could’ve hoped for, removing a guard from its post will help the others when they come in. The guard waves at another guard who looks half asleep to indicate that he’s leaving and then leads both men inside the facility.

Once inside the doors, he hears a quick uptake of breath in his mind, and then a soft sigh from Mike. He pushes through the bond a sense of curiosity.

‘Just got out of the car,’ he hears, ‘waiting for the others.’

‘Stay safe,’ Steve shoots back, and he feels the exasperation through the bond. 

‘Sure mum,’ Mike thinks back, and Steve is about to respond but Hopper pinches him subtly.

“Control your face,” Hopper murmurs lowly, and that’s when Steve realises that a smile has been trying to creep onto his features. He quickly schools his face before the guard can see and flicks his gaze up to the security cameras.

Luckily no one would be able to see his face clearly in that hallway, although he has to be more careful now, he has to slip into the character he was given.

They continue down a few hallways, gradually moving underground until the guard stops in front of the door and taps his foot.

“Why’re we stopped?” Hopper asks impatiently and the guard looks vaguely embarrassed. 

“I don’t have clearance for this section,” he says and Hopper is wise enough to not prod any further as the guard seems to almost sulk as he leans against the wall.

A few minutes of tense silence pass before a scientist passes by and opens the door. The scientist and guard have a quick conversation before the guard gets waved away. The scientist watches them go before directing them into a different hallway. They are lead through some more doors and down a few more levels, before finally leading them into a small room. 

Inside was Mrs Butch, or scientist 367 as she apparently was. She was the most dressed up Steve had ever seen her, her whole appearance changed by tidying up. She didn’t look like a neighbour anymore, she was much more intimidating.

“Steve,” she greets, gesturing at the seats, “Chief.” She waits for them both to sit before she sits down herself, “I’ve not prepared anything for this meeting because you did not inform us you were coming.”

“Would you usually prepare something?” Hopper asks, and Mrs Butch glares at him.

“Well, we would have also prepared for anything we needed to prepare for this meeting,” she explains as if talking to toddlers, “if only you had given us warning ahead of time.”

“Why did you agree to the meeting then?” Hopper asks, noting the condescending way they were being spoken to and hating it but not able to do anything for fear of ruining the plan.

“The subjects need to remain relatively calm for best results, coming to find us at such an odd time, after such a stressful situation, makes us believe that something has to important for you to come to us,” she says, “there is something important, yes?” She turns an impatient gaze on them, and Steve can imagine that all she needs to complete the image is a nail file.

“Well, Mrs Butch,” Steve begins, but the scientist cuts him off.

“That is not my name, you may refer to me as Scientist 367 for safety reasons,” she says, tapping her nails against the table in obvious impatience.

“Well, Scientist 367,” Steve starts again, “there is something of great importance that we needed to bring up with you.”

“And that is?” She asks, and the two men feel the slight buzzing behind their eyes intensify from almost imperceptible to impossible to miss. Steve feels the kids connect themselves one by one to the bond and knows that they're in the most important part of the plan now. The distraction.

“Well this importance,” Steve begins, almost wincing as the buzzing increases once more, Mike struggling to connect them all together, his brain struggling to remember the fake story. He glances over at Hopper, desperately looking for help but the chief seems even more affected than Steve is. 

“Yes?” Scientist 367 asks impatiently, looking at them both with disdain and concern.

“You see,” Steve starts as the buzzing reaches a crescendo. The lady, obviously annoyed, starts to get up.

Hopper reacts instinctively and punches the woman in the face. She falls down, unconscious just as the bond settles.

‘Everyone okay?’ Mike’s voice flits through the bond and Steve winces. They’ve messed up, this isn’t how they were meant to do it.

‘Hopper punched Mrs Butch,’ Steve replies and he can feel the kids panic on the other end of the bond.

‘Plan B then?’ Billy asks and Steve nods before realising that Billy can’t see him.

‘Plan B,’ Steve sends back, and immediately starts to run.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quite a few guards and/or scientists were harmed in the making of this chapter.

Billy had really, really hoped that they didn’t have to do plan B. Plan B was the dangerous plan, the one where they had to fight their way in. Plan A was a lot simpler, simple use of Steve and Hopper sneaking in and distracting everyone long enough for Billy and the kids to sneak in. They were meant to put the laboratory into a panic by saying that Steve and Hopper were being stalked, or threatened, or something that would make the scientists distracted. Punching the scientist was a great way to scare them, but was detrimental for the sneaking in part of the plan.

Plan B was the storm in guns blazing plan. As soon as Steve told them to do it Billy panicked, this was far more dangerous, far more risky, far more uncontrollable. 

Billy looks at the kids who had just got out of the car.

“Get in,” he orders, and the kids grumbled as they put their seatbelts back on.

“Why’d we have to get back in?” Max asks, and Billy answers by slamming his foot down onto the accelerator and driving them straight past the sleeping guard and through the laboratory gates. The car is smashed in the process, but the only person in the front was Billy, and the back part of the car was relatively fine even after the crash.

“At least they gave me a good car,” Billy murmurs as he gets out of the car. The kids quickly follow him. Billy is about to close his door when he sees the bat laying in the passenger footwell. Steve gave it to him for safekeeping, intending to take it back from him at some point. Billy figures that even though Plan A was a disaster, Plan B still needs some of the components of Plan A. He reaches over and grabs the bat, slamming the car door behind him. 

The guard has gotten over his shock and is calling the incident in over the line when El just cocks her head and the guard goes limp.

“Did you kill him?” Dustin shrieks in surprise, and El just gives a flat look.

“Yes,” she answers simply to the bafflement of everyone else. Billy pats her on the shoulder once, kind of terrified of her now but proud of her quick actions. 

“C’mon,” he says, turning to walk toward the facility. Even though El had prevented the guard from calling in the incident, only a miracle would keep the whole security department from missing both the massive hole in the fence and the dead guard at his post. 

The kids scurry after him, and the group gradually grows in speed. By the time they make it past the front doors, they’re almost sprinting in. The guard at the front desk startles but El knocks him out before he can do anything, and the next guard who rounds a corner and shoots at them only manages to hit Billy who swings at him with the bat. The guard goes down after one hit, the nails digging into the flesh of the guard's face and ripping it open.

After the hit Billy lets himself feel shocked at the damage he caused for a split second before forcing himself to continue down the corridor.

‘Where are you?’ He asked silently through the connection, jogging through the seemingly endless hallways of the facility.

‘We’ve left the room we were in,’ Steve’s thought come flittering through his mind, ‘moving along the lab towards the central room. Hopefully, we can get to the control room and knock out their cameras soon.’

‘Tell us when you have’, Billy shoots back, abruptly spinning to turn right down a hall. The kids take down the next two guards while Billy covers them. They run down a few more halls before alarms start blaring throughout the facility.

“Come on!” Billy yells back, breaking into a dead sprint. The kids quickly follow after him, running as fast as possible to keep up with Billy’s long legs. As they ran through the facility guards kept coming at them. Most of them were in a panicked rush but were much more prepared than the ones they had taken out earlier.

‘Everything okay?’ Billy sends quickly to Steve, smashing another guard’s face in as they shoot at him.

‘We accidentally alerted them I think, but we are still trying to make our way to the centre.’ Steve thinks back, and Billy nods once sharply to himself and continues down the hallway.

“Where are we going?” Dustin demands as he struggles to keep up. Billy ignores him and instead slams into the nearest door, feeling drawn to it for some reason. The door splinters into shards that shower the people inside. Luckily its only Steve and Hopper, a bunch of scientists scattered on the floor around them.

They all stare in shock at each other for a second before the kids rush forward, clambering around Steve’s legs and squawking for attention. Steve smiles and greets one quickly before his attentions zeroes onto the bat Billy is holding.

“Oh yeah,” Billy says, “here,” he adds, flipping the bat around and offering Steve the handle. 

“Thanks,” Steve says as he takes it, “I’m not as good at taking these guys out without assistance.” Hopper gives off a soft snort behind him but doesn’t offer anything else. For a minute everything is calm, before the alarm filters back into their area of awareness.

“Now what?” Dustin asks, and Steve shares a semi-frantic look with both Hopper and Billy. Billy’s eyes flick down to Max for a split second and Steve follows his gaze.

“We blow them up,” he says.

“How?” Billy asks incredulously, “not criticising, I love the idea, but how are we gonna pull it off?”

“Surely, a big lab like this has a bunch of explosives just laying around somewhere?” Steve replies.

“A janitors closet could work, there could be something combustible in there,” Mike volunteers, “I don’t know how wide the range would be though.”

“Doesn’t matter, bring down a central area the whole place will collapse,” Lucas chimes in, before looking over at Max, “and anything left we can just burn.”

“You mean *I* can just burn,” Max elaborates, crossing her arms.

“Hopper, you take Lucas, El, Mike, and Max to find some explosives and set them in any important looking rooms, computer labs, central rooms, whatever, Billy and I will take Dustin and try to clear them a path. Anyone, you come into contact with, you can take out,” Steve orders, pointing at the door.

“What about Will?” Mike asks, and Steve cocks his head gently to the side.

“Can you still keep us linked up?” He asks the empty air.

‘Yes, but be quick,’ Will answers, the sound heard in all of their heads.

“You heard him,” Hopper says, “let’s be quick.”

Steve and Billy lead the charge out the door, knocking down the two guards who were running down the hallway. They started running deeper into the lab, trying to lead guards away from the rest of the kids.  
Hopper and his troops found a janitors closet quickly, having Mike run ahead to scout to help them. Together they pull out the equipment they need and start assembling basic explosives. Lucas and El fix them together, Mike scouts places to put them and Max helps Hopper bring down any panicking guards that run into them. Although by now a good chunk of their security forces had been taken down by Steve, Billy, and Dustin, who had decided that keeping score was the best way of doing things.

“Twenty-two!” Billy shouts as he knocks another one out.

This is quickly followed by Dustin’s “Ha! Twenty-four! Keep up!”

“Hey, that’s my score! You’re on nineteen!” Steve calls back, and Dustin lets out a loud sigh.

“You never let me have any fun!” He yells.

Meanwhile, Hopper and his crew had managed to put bombs in what they deemed important places. 

‘We’re all good,’ he thinks to Will, who relays the message to the other group.

‘Get out of range and light them up,’ Steve sends back and Hopper nods to himself. He ushers the kids out of the lab, catching up to Steve, Billy, and Dustin as they all run together. Once outside Will materialises next to them, looking faint. Steve helps him stay upright and they watch together as the first bomb goes off, creating a massive fireball that lights up the night. Then the next, and the next, until the whole lab is on fire. Max comes running up to join them.

“I set them all off,” she says, obviously exhausted.

“You did really well,” Steve reassures, letting them all watch the fire show until it starts to die down and he ushers them into the one remaining car. He knows that they shouldn’t all be sitting in it, its a safety hazard, but with the chief sitting in the backseat he thinks that maybe they’ll get away with it.

It would be pretty funny if that’s what he got arrested for, and not blowing up a giant laboratory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how late this us, but I am proud to announce that there is only one chapter left, a little tie up of sorts. Thank you to all who read and comment/kudos I appreciate them all, even if I don't reply. See y'all soon!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end, the epilogue, and the beginning of something better.

The drive back was mostly uneventful. When they finally got back to the house all of the kids had fallen asleep, so the adults (or almost adults) carried them back into the house. Some of them might have been faking it as Steve saw Lucas smirk out of the corner of his eye and Max snores quite loudly in her sleep but wasn’t when she was being carried.

After settling everyone down in bed Steve, Hopper and Billy head back downstairs where they just sit together on the couch.

“We did it,” Steve whispers into the dark room, before landing his head on Billy’s shoulder with a muffled ‘thunk’.

“Ow,” Billy mumbles under his breath and Steve just hums. Hopper tilts his head back against the couch, the bags under his eyes are pronounced by the shadows in the room. The room is silent except for the steady breathing of those on the couch and soft snores filtering down from the floor above.

"You know that they're totally going to come after you again?" Hopper says, rolling his head so he's facing the other boys.

"But we won, we destroyed their lab," Steve replies, half mumbling with his eyes closed. Billy looked halfway to terrified at Steve leaning on his shoulder.

“They can rebuild it,” Hopper replied, and Steve shushed him.

“I’m sleeping now,” he mumbled, even less intelligible than before, “we’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

As it was, they did not talk about it tomorrow, nor the next day. For the little oddball family life became peaceful and steady. Hopper returned to his very destroyed workplace and tried to help the rebuilding. Any questions about Steve were brushed off with a disgruntled grumble and a harsh order to drop it. Many assumed that Hopper was just annoyed that he was wrong for once. 

Steve and the kids built a side room where Steve could sleep, and then started building another one for Billy. Steve suggested that Billy sleeps in the already built room while they were constructing his. Billy insisted it was unneeded, as if Steve could survive on the couch so could he, but Steve stood his ground and they managed to agree that they could share the bed. 

Soon enough a second room did not need to built for Billy to sleep in, and instead, it became a small playroom. Billy continued to sleep in Steve’s room even though there was only one bed. You can imagine how that happened.

The kids gradually started to accept that they didn’t really have much to fear now that the lab was destroyed and the head of the police department was on their side. Although Hopper didn’t turn a blind eye to everything, namely when Billy sped through town earning him several tickets, he did look the other way when the kids accidentally damaged public property. Steve would try and pay for it but his puppy-eyes filled with almost-tears would always weaken Hopper into paying for the damage himself or starting a crowd funder. 

Miss Butch wasn’t really missed by the surrounding area, except for Steve who had kind of grown fond of the persona she had been putting on when she visited. The kids helped him, making sure he was occupied whenever his mind started to drift. 

The lab did start to rebuild but the rag-tag group snuck in one night and sabotaged the project. Some teenagers from the town posted a fake news article that made sure that the town rallied against new lab in town. Steve got into contact with them to make sure that they’re intentions were pure but from what he could see both Nancy and Jonathan were just normal kids who write articles to try and save the world.

Steve enjoyed talking with them, and Hopper encouraged the four teens to spend time together to try and develop some social skills that one couldn’t learn while in a lab or surrounded by children years younger than you. Billy would come along begrudgingly, but eventually, he too started to enjoy hanging out with people his age. They enrolled the younger kids into school, but Billy and Steve simply looked over the notes Nancy and Jonathan had taken during class and looking up everything else. Not the best education, but education none-the-less. 

Billy’s car was never properly recovered, but the lab couldn’t exactly bring it up with him without going through Hopper, who had convinced the whole police department to hate the experimenters. Not that it took a lot of convincing considering the lab had been skirting around them and the law for years. 

All in all, everything was fine. Wonderful even. Life was starting to look up for them.

Steve, while surrounded by his family, was content. They were all safe and secure, he had protected them against all the danger they came across.

Together they would be okay, and really, that's all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who stayed with me on what was meant to be a tiny ficlet! You are all so amazing, and everything you've commented means so much to me. I may write some more in this universe later (there are so many unexplored avenues!) but this is the end of this particular fic.  
> Once again thank you all for reading and I hope you have a nice day!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is my first work on here, if you see any problems please tell me. Also, I am very open to new title or summary suggestions.
> 
> I do have a Wattpad account for my original works -> https://www.wattpad.com/user/EmthelRackem
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a nice day!
> 
> (Just a reminder that I own none of the characters, or settings in this work.)


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